Leroy Gonzalo Kelley was a product of my Grandpa Kelley's first marriage. While stationed in Florida at Naval Air Station Pensacola he met Shalandra Mabute near the beginning of 1936. She worked with The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Marvin and some of his shipmates went to see the circus and he instantly fell in love with the cotton candy vendor. Shalandra felt the connection as well, and they were married later that year. Their family situation was unique because Shalandra continued to travel with the circus and Marvin remained in the Navy, which required him to do quite a bit of traveling as well. They would often go weeks at a time without seeing one another. Their love remained strong throughout the distance and Leroy was born on April 17, 1938.
Tragically, Shalandra would not get to see Leroy grow up. On May 22, 1940 the circus train derailed. She was buried in the cotton candy car and suffocated. Luckily, Leroy was back in Florida with his father at the time. By this time Marvin had advanced in the Navy to become a very high ranking officer. He was given permission to take Leroy along on some of their peace keeping missions. This was the case in 1949. Marvin was stationed in Denmark during that time. Leroy enjoyed seeing new places during their travels, but constantly having to make new friends caused him to develop a social anxiety disorder. They had been in Denmark for about 6 months when Leroy made an amazing discovery. Suffering from boredom, as most 11 year olds are wont to do, Leroy started melting his plastic army men. He began melting them into little bricks and constructing small buildings. He developed a technique in which he could make small pegs that would fit into the other bricks. A local toymaker observed what Leroy was doing and the LEGO was born. It is named LEGO after the first two letters of Leroy's first two names. LEGOs became an instant hit with the children, especially in the United States.
When Marvin's ship was to sail home, Leroy asked to stay and run his new business from Denmark. Leroy didn't think he would be able to deal with fame back in the states, and wanted to stay where he was still relatively unknown. It was a difficult decision for Marvin to leave his now 12 year old son behind, but he knew it was for the best. He had made many friends with the local people and Leroy had many places to stay. With the LEGO success money was never an issue for Leroy. Marvin kept in touch with his son through letters and postcards, and after turning 18 Leroy decided to move back to where he was born. It was difficult for him to adapt to his new life at first, but Leroy was able to blend in with society. By this time Marvin had remarried and started a new family. He tried to get Leroy to move in with them, but Leroy was an adult now and wanted to take care of himself. He did make frequent visits though and bonded with his step brother and sister. He even taught my father how to play basketball. Sadly, Leroy's social anxiety disorder has caused him to remain single. He currently resides in Solvang, California. He says it reminds him of his younger days. We don't see him very often, but every once in a while he will make a surprise visit. Such was the case in the photo.
I was returning home from Ecuador. I was happy to see my family at the airport waiting for me, and very surprised to se
e Uncle Leroy. Without thinking, I whipped out my camera and snapped a picture. You can tell from the picture that Leroy wasn't stoked about it. As a result of his social anxiety he has a rare phobia of having his picture taken. In fact, this is the only picture I have of him. I'll have to ask my father if he has any others, but I would be very surprised if he did. Uncle Leroy began hyperventilating right after the picture was taken, but he got over it. I haven't seen him for a couple of years now, but last I heard he was doing fine. I just hope he had a happy Martin Luther King Day and that he enjoys Black History Month. Hopefully everybody else does too.
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