Caring for Young Onset Alzheimer’s – Lenny’s Story

Lenny was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, and to this day, he is proud to be a “ranger”. He loves the wonderful ethnic food of the range, including porketta , pasties and sarmas . His claim to fame from his days on “da range” is kicking a young Kevin McHale out of his deer stand.

After finishing college, Lenny decided to come to the big city and took his first job with what was then First Bank Minneapolis. He collected past due car payments and when a customer didn’t pay, he repossessed their car. On more than one occasion, an upset customer put a gun in his back and asked him to leave the car alone. On those occasions, Lenny wisely left without the car!! He continued his career in banking for nearly 35 years, with his last position being as a Senior Vice President with Marquette Financial, one of the Pohlad companies.

While working at First Bank Minneapolis, Lenny met his wife, Nancy. Lenny claims that Nancy tricked him into marrying her, but coincidentally Nancy’s version of the story is the opposite. It was love at first sight and they were engaged nine months after meeting and were married nine months after that. They had two beautiful children, Alisa and Ryan.

Lenny loves the water. His favorite thing to do is to be out on a boat in the middle of a lake just enjoying the day, the sun and the peace of it all. A few years ago he fulfilled his lifelong dream of owning a cabin up north . Coincidentally, the cabin was built at the same location as the resort where Lenny, Nancy and their kids vacationed every summer. The memories there are priceless.

If you visit Gianna, you will see a guy there with headphones on singing and swaying to the music. That would be Lenny. He loves music and is actually a very good singer. In fact, more than once ladies at church have turned around and told him that he should be in the choir. Lenny’s always thought he sounds a lot like Elvis.

Lenny was diagnosed with Young Onset Alzheimer’s in the summer of 2005. He had just turned 56. He came to Gianna Homes in the fall of 2006. When Lenny returns from an outing with his family, we are gratified to see him light up with a big smile when he returns to Gianna and sees his caregivers. He has come to love all the wonderful people there who care for him and who he now considers his Gianna family.

Written with many fond memories by Lenny’s Family