Wayne J. Lesky, 84, former director of matériel at Boeing Co. in Ridley Park, died of congestive heart failure Thursday at Naamans Creek Country Manor in Boothwyn, where he had lived for the last year.
A longtime resident of Media, Mr. Lesky was born in South Philadelphia, graduated from Southeast Catholic High School in 1943, and served as a Navy radarman on warships in the Atlantic during World War II.
With help from the GI Bill, he earned a bachelor's degree in business from what is now La Salle University in 1950 and went to work at what is now the Piasecki Aircraft Corp. in Essington in 1951.
Mr. Lesky began his Boeing career in 1953 and retired in the early 1990s, his daughter Mary Close said.
Mr. Lesky visited England, Israel, and Spain to purchase parts for Boeing helicopters.
A varsity second baseman at La Salle, Mr. Lesky played baseball before and after college for the Penrose and Tinicum Athletic Clubs. On Tuesday nights at Penncrest High School near Lima, he played basketball well into his 70s.
Mr. Lesky coached baseball in the Riddlewood Little League in Delaware County in the 1960s and 1970s and coached basketball for the CYO team at St. Francis de Sales parish in Lenni from the 1950s into the '70s.
He was a member of the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center in West Goshen, the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association, and the Boeing Management Association.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Lesky is survived by sons Terry, John, Mike, Tom, and Andy; a sister; 13 grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. His wife, Rosemary, died in 1999.
Visitation is from 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Rigby, Harting & Hagan Funeral Home, 15 E. Fourth St., Media, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at St. Francis De Sales Roman Catholic Church, 39 New Rd., Lenni, before an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass there. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Memorial donations may be sent to St. Francis de Sales CYO Program at Box 87, Lenni, Pa. 19052.
Contact staff writer Walter F. Naedele at 215-854-5607 or wnaedele@phillynews.com.
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