Cliff Buchan
News EditorDuring his 43-year educational career and through more than 30 years of retirement life, L.T. Lechner never stopped caring about Forest Lake schools.
Thatís how friends and one-time colleagues are remembering Lechner, the former superintendent of schools here who died Thursday, Jan. 29 at age 96.
Lechner served ISD 831 from 1965 until June 30 of 1973 when he retired, concluding a public education career spanning 43 years.
Linwood Township resident Vernon Boettcher, a long-time school board member here, worked closely with Lechner as superintendent and befriended Lechner during his retirement years. During the two years that Lechner and his wife Elsie lived at Green Acres in North Branch, Boettcher was a frequent visitor at the nursing home.
ìHe was down to earth and associated with everybody,î Boettcher recalled. Boettcher said that in retirement Lechnerís golf games and horseshoe contests would often involve partners that included retired school custodians and teachers.
During their recent visits, Boettcher said Lechner would often focus on the conversation on education. ìI appreciated the fact that he came back to Forest Lake,î Boettcher said.
After retiring in 1973, the Lechners moved to Detroit Lakes but returned to this area a little more than 20 years ago.
Boettcher said Lechner always took pride in the positive steps the district was able to take under his leadership.
ìHe was proud of the fact he never lost a bond election,î Boettcher said.
During Lechnerís tenure, the district passed bond elections to construct Forest Lake High School, Forest View Elementary, and do additions at the Lino Lakes, Linwood and Scandia schools.
Gerald Lunde, the retired principal at Forest View, recalled Lechner as a soft spoken leader who could be firm but gentle as the situation demanded.
ìHe had a heart of gold,î Lunde said.
But Lunde said Lechner could be very firm. At one point, Lunde said Lechner caught an employee drinking on the job and immediately terminated the employee.
Lunde said he has fond recollections of district-level staff meetings at the old Central Junior High School complex and the mannerisms of his former boss. Lunde said Lechner was commonly known for his trademark ìYou betî expression that would be sprinkled throughout his conversations.
Long career
Although Lechner probably realized he could have earned a better living in other career areas, education was his first love, he said in a November 1972 interview with this newspaper.
More than 30 years ago, Lechner mused at the problems facing the public education system. Many of the issues raised by Lechner then have continued to follow education today.
ìBecause of the problems we have throughout society today, discipline has become more difficult,î he said to then News Editor Howard Lestrud. ìTeachers must be well trained to deal with these new trends.
ìThe home has changed quite a bit. The school and home were much closer in the past. Now the school has had to take over some of the duties of the home. The school has had to expand its programs to meet the needs of society.î
When Lechner went to work as a science teacher and coach at Elmore in 1930, he took home a salary of $675. But he was doing what he loved, he said in the 1972 interview.
As he taught during the Depression years, Lechner said many of the students would leave school to return to the farm, leaving education behind. ìIím sure it would have been more financially rewarding for me if I would have gone into farming, too,î Lechner said in the interview.
Lechner was a product of the prairies of North Dakota. He was born Nov. 28, 1907 in Fessenden, ND. He graduated Fessenden High School in 1926 and four years later earned a teaching degree from Concordia College, Moorhead where he concentrated on science, German and physical education.
His first teaching and coaching job at Elmore lasted until 1932 when he moved to Hewitt as principal and superintendent from 1933 to 1937. It was during this period that he earned his administrative degrees from the University of Minnesota.
From 1937 until 1944 he worked in Mazeppa where he was superintendent and also taught some classes. He carried the same job duties from 1944 to 1948 at LeRoy.
His first full-time superintendentís job came at Perham where he worked from 1948 to 1952. From Perham, Lechner moved to the Iron Range community of Gilbert where he was superintendent from 1952 to 1965.
Seeking to finish his career closer to the metro area, he applied for a vacancy in Forest Lake and was hired here as superintendent in 1965.
His love of the Iron Range turned out to be a pipeline of sorts for many teacher candidates from the Range who found jobs in Forest Lake during his eight years at the helm.
During Lechnerís eight years in Forest Lake, he saw the staff grow from 120 teachers to over 250 at the time of his retirement. The opening of two new schools, the high school and Forest View, came during his tenure.
Funeral details
A funeral service for Laurence T. Lechner was Tuesday, Feb. 3 at Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake. Interment was at Scandinavian Cemetery, Forest Lake.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Elsie; daughters Nancy (Cleve) Moore, and Karen (Dr. Robert) Tosterud; grandchildren Greg (Chenchen) Moore, Barbara (Chris) Deigert, Jonathan (Marissa) Tosterud; one great-granddaughter, Isobel Tosterud; and one brother Dr. Edgar (Evie) Lechner.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister Adeline Schmidt, and one grandson, Robert Tosterud Jr.
The family has requested that memorials be sent in L.T. Lechnerís memory to: the Forest Lake Community Scholarship Foundation, care of Julie Carver, Forest Lake High School, 6101 Scandia Trail N., Forest Lake, MN 55025, or the Forest Lake Lions Club, P.O. Box 543, Forest Lake, MN 55025.
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