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Lenny Brickman, 94, played, coached football in Cleveland
NORTH ROYALTON - During his more than 50 years in Cleveland's football spotlight, Lenny Brickman gained a reputation as a brilliant strategist and a gentleman.
As quarterback at St. Ignatius High School in 1923, the Cleveland native engineered the football team's first victory over its rival Cathedral Latin. In the final three minutes of the game with St. Ignatius facing third-and-nine at its own 25-yard line and trailing Latin by a score of 13-12, Brickman orchestrated a fake punt. He took the ball from the center, shot past the tackle and dashed 75 yards for the winning touchdown.
Brickman, 94, died yesterday at his home in North Royalton.
Brickman, whose given name was Leonard E., led St. Ignatius to its first city championship in 1925. He returned to his alma mater as head football coach in 1937 and guided the team to its first West Senate championship in 1945.
He ended his career at Garfield Heights High School, where he taught civics and Latin and coached the football team's offensive backs. He retired in 1977 at the mandatory age of 70, then assisted the football coach at Solon High School for three years.
In the 1930s, he worked in the circulation department of the Cleveland News and coached the Cleveland News Skippies, a bantam-weight football team for youths 16 and under. His teams posted a three-year record of 31-0-3.
Brickman coached the St. Ignatius Wildcats for only 10 years. He continued teaching American history at the high school, while coaching the Western Reserve University freshmen football squad and scouting for the Los Angeles Rams.
He joined the faculty and football staff at Garfield Heights in 1958. The father of 11 quit coaching in 1975 to care for his ailing wife, Dorothy, who died a year later. Two of his sons, Leonard Jr. and George, died in the 1990s.
Brickman is survived by his daughters, Bernice Kollar of Boca Raton, Fla., Sister Alice O.S.U. of Willowick, Carol Behm of Highland Heights, Sister Dianne O.S.U. of Pepper Pike, Barbara Myers of Parma and Brenda Love of North Royalton; sons, David C. of Willoughby Hills, Neal of Munson Township and Bruce of Parma; 41 grandchildren; 43 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild.
Services will be at noon today at St. Timothy Catholic Church, 4341 E. 131st St., Garfield Heights.
Arrangements are by his son, who operates the David C. Brickman Funeral Service of Wickliffe.
06/14/01
Todd A. Cadwallader, 30, was a registered nurse
BRECKSVILLE - Dr. Franklyn J. Simecek, past director of surgery for St. Alexis Hospital in Cleveland, died of congestive heart failure Monday at Emerald Ridge Nursing Home in Solon.
He was 78.
He was a surgeon in Greater Cleveland for more than 30 years. Besides his work at St. Alexis in Cleveland, he operated on patients at Parma Community General Hospital, Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights and Deaconess Hospital in Cleveland. He retired in 1990.
After graduating from John Adams High School in 1941, the Cleveland native attended Western Reserve University. He completed his studies at New York Medical College, where he received a medical degree in 1947.
He served his internship and surgical residency at St. Alexis Hospital but left the area again in 1951 to serve in the Air Force. While stationed in England, he met his future wife, Elizabeth, who was an Australian stewardess at the time.
After they married
, the couple lived in South Carolina and New York City before settling in Greater Cleveland in the late 1950s. They had lived in Brecksville since 1964. Elizabeth Simecek died in 1995.
Simecek is survived by his daughters, Lisa Root of Strongsville and Adrienne Doobin of Summit, N.J.; two grandsons; and a brother.
Services will be private with arrangements by A. Nosek & Sons, Gerber-McCreery Funeral Home of Brecksville.
Donations may be made to any chapter of the American Cancer Society or to Holy Family Home, 6707 State Rd., Parma 44134.
06/15/01
Joseph Basista, 84, owned West Side furniture stores
PARMA - When Joseph Basista retired from his furniture business on State Rd. in 1979, he became an unofficial store watchman sitting in his rocking chair at his home across the street.
"He loved to sit in that rocker and watch people going in and out of his store, " said a nephew, Stanley Basista Jr. He said that if his uncle saw kids loitering near the store at night, he would chase them away.
Basista, 84, who worked in the furniture business for 28 years, died Tuesday at Sunrise Assisted Living in Parma.
In the 1950s, he and his brother, Stanley Sr., bought the West Clark Furniture Store on Clark Ave. in Cleveland. Later they relocated the store to W. 25th St., off Clark Ave.
The brothers then bought a former dairy store on State Rd. in Parma, renovated the building and renamed the store Basista Furniture, said Stanley Basista Jr. They continued to maintain the W. 25th St. store for about two years before closing it.
In 1975, they sold the State Rd. store to Stanley Sr.'s sons, Stanley Jr. and Tom Basista, who are still operating the business.
Basista was born in Cleveland and graduated from Lincoln High School. He and his brother served three years in the Navy in Hawaii during World War II. They were aviation-maintenance mechanics.
Joseph Basista's love of airplanes carried over after his military days. One of his favorite hobbies was collecting models of Navy fighter jets.
In addition to his nephews, Basista's survivors include two nieces.
Services will be at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at Holy Family Catholic Church, 7367 York Rd., Parma.
Contributions may be made to Holy Family Home, 6707 State Rd., Parma 44134.
Arrangements are by Kolodiy-Lazuta Funeral Home, 5677 State Rd., Parma.
06/15/01
Dr. John Hudec, was chief of staff at Parma General and Deaconess
CLEVELAND - Dr. John Hudec, former chief of staff at Parma Community General Hospital and Deaconess Hospital, died Tuesday at his home. He was 83.
He was chief of staff for four years in the 1970s at the Parma hospital and four years at Deaconess, according to a son.
For several years, Hudec was physician for Parma police and the Parma High School sports teams. He also taught health at the former Nazareth Academy, now Holy Name High School in Parma.
He had a private medical practice on State Rd. in Parma from 1960 until retiring in 1990. His medical office was on Archwood Rd. in Cleveland in the 1950s.
Hudec graduated from East High School in Cleveland and Western Reserve University, then received his medical degree from Georgetown University.
He served in the Army from 1946 to 1948, spending 18 months in Korea with a medical unit.
When Hudec returned to Cleveland, he was a resident at Deaconess Hospital, then established his private practice.
After retiring, he worked through the 1990s part time in Occupational Health Services at both Parma Community and Deaconess hospitals.
Hudec supported St. Ignatius High School and the Brooklyn Kiwanis Club.
Surviving are his wife, Margo; his former wife, Rita; sons, Daniel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., John of Brecksville, Thomas of Canton, David of Broadview Heights, Joseph of North Royalton, Bernard of Chicago, Michael of Westlake and Patrick of North Royalton; daughters, Mary of Rockville, Md., and Sharon Conway of Louisville, Ky.; and 26 grandchildren.
Also surviving are stepsons, William Birinyi and Bruce Birinyi, both of Cleveland; step-daughters, Barbara Currier, Elizabeth Hejny, Blaze Birinyi and Bonnie Birinyi, all of Cleveland; and five step-grandchildren.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. today at St. Basil the Great Catholic Church, 8700 Brecksville Rd., Brecksville. Arrangements are being handled by the Busch Family Chapel, 7501 Ridge Rd., Parma.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the St. Ignatius High School Scholarship Fund, 1911 W. 30th St., Cleveland 44113.
06/15/01
Benjamin Williams, teacher, counselor, assistant principal
CLEVELAND - Services for Benjamin R. Williams, 70, a re tired South High School assistant principal, will be at 7 tonight at Glenville New Life Community Church, 711 E. 105th St., Cleveland.
Williams died of complications of colon cancer Sunday at his home in Cleveland.
He began his career with the Cleveland schools as a science and biology teacher at East Technical High School in 1960. He was a guidance counselor at East High School for about five years before becoming an assistant principal at South High in the mid-1970s.
After his official retirement in 1995, Williams continued assisting principals at John Hay and South high schools, until he became ill five months ago.
Williams, who was born in Utica, Miss., graduated in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in biology from what is now Alcorn State University, the oldest historically and predominantly black land-grant university in the United States. A four-year letterman in football, he was inducted into the university's Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
After college, he served with a signal corps unit in the Army in the Korean War. He came to Cleveland in 1955 and earned a master's degree in physiology from Western Reserve University in 1958. He later studied guidance counseling and school administration at John Carroll University.
Williams served as an elder and Sunday school superintendent at Glenville New Life Community Church, formerly Glenville Presbyterian Church. He also belonged to the Cabinet on Ethnic Church Affairs and Black Presbyterians United.
Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Delois; daughter, Kathlyn Benita of Cleveland; sons, Benjamin Jr. and Brian R., both of Cleveland; four grandchildren; stepmother, Ramona Butler; three half-brothers; and two half-sisters.
Arrangements are by the E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home of Cleveland.
06/15/01
Leroy Feagler, 91, assisted workers
INDEPENDENCE - Leroy Feagler, 91, who enjoyed connecting job seekers with future employers until he retired from the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services 21 years ago, died Thursday at St. John West Shore Hospital.
Although he worked for the state for only 15 years, he long had an interest in aiding workers. His earlier jobs included serving as a business agent for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 209.
Feagler's beginning was humble. His parents settled in Phoenix, in what was then the Arizona Territory, and were building a house. It was not yet completed, so he was born in a tent. The family moved to Cleveland a dozen years later, and he graduated from East Technical High School.
Feagler held a variety of jobs during the Depression before he joined the union's staff. He entered the Navy at age 34 during World War II and served stateside. Fellow sailors called him "Pop."
Along the way, he married
Ethel F. Kugler. His wife died last year, just before their 63rd anniversary.
Although Feagler did not go to college, he was an avid reader. Issues of the day were always discussed at the dinner table, said his son, Dick, a Plain Dealer columnist.
"He was always up to the moment on current events. He read more articles in the paper than I did, " Dick Feagler said.
Feagler also fished. He took his family to favorite fishing spots on Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Fox River in Illinois.
He moved from the Lee-Harvard area of Cleveland to a ranch house in Independence in 1959. For the past year, he had been a patient at the Corinthian nursing home.
In addition to his son, of Bay Village, Feagler is survived by a daughter, Linda of North Ridgeville; four grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Busch Family Chapel, 7501 Ridge Rd., Parma.
06/16/01
