Leland (Lee) A Schlabach

Leland (Lee) A Schlabach passed away on June 22, 2026, in Surprise, Arizona. He was born on September 12, 1931, and grew up in Arthur, Illinois, a small farming and industrial community in central Illinois. After graduating from High School in 1949, he worked as a machine operator for Caterpillar in East Peoria, Illinois, for 1 year. Lee enlisted into the military in September of 1950, and served 4 years in the USAF during the Korean War. He trained as an aircraft mechanic and taught in aircraft electrical repair schools for 3 years at Chanute AFB. He was Honorably discharged as a Staff Sargeant in September of 1954. He was married to Lucille Anna Reagin in Lake City, Illinois on June 30, 1954. He then attended the University of Illinois, completing a BSEE in 1958, after which he worked for Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for 12 years. While there, he worked on the development of Power Electronic Equipment, and with financial help from Westinghouse, earned an MSEE and PhD Degree. He was awarded 5 patents for new inventions, and some of the developed equipment was used on Nuclear Submarines and smaller research and rescue submarines.

In 1969, he went to work for the Robicon Corporation as the manager of the group of Engineers designing and developing Power Electronic Equipment for the industrial market and continued there until retirement at the end of 1994. Most of the products were used to control the speed of DC motors in the production of steel in Steel Mills, including rolling mills and the positioning of electrodes in Arc Furnaces. In addition, speed controls were provided to an electrically driven front end wheel loaders used in mining operations and built by LeTourneau Corporation, now Komatsu Corp., of Longview, Texas. Follow up on the various equipment included travelling to many places in Europe, South Africa, Malaysia, and China, as well as most states in the U.S. He continued with consulting work for a few years until health problems convinced him to stop and enjoy retirement.

He was invited to, and joined several academic honorary societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Phi, and Eta Kappa Nu. He was a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. and supported the Society at the annual meetings around the country by organizing and conducting many technical sessions and also wrote and presented a number of technical papers. At the local level, he was chairman of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Industry Applications Society for one year. He was also a member of the Iron and Steel Society, and is listed in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering beginning in 1992.

Lee and Lucille had 3 children, Leon Arthur Schlabach of Sun City West, Arizona, Lou Ann Wilson of Niceville, Florida, and Larry Andrew Schlabach of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He and Lucille divorced in 1977, and he married Helen Marie Lakly Schlabach in 1981. She had 3 children from a previous marriage, John G. Furjanic of Littleton, Colorado, Deborah M. Petrina of Glendale, Arizona, and Suzanne K. Furjanic of Santa Ana, California. This was a happy marriage with many happy family gatherings, much travelling including annual vacations to Cancun, Mexico, and 6 ocean cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska, and Europe. They wintered in Florida for a number of years, but moved permanently to Sun City West, Arizona, in 2002. Together, they have 9 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. Lee is survived by a sister, Lydia Marie Tester of Newton, Kansas. His younger brother, Leroy A. Schlabach of Meigs, Georgia, and a younger sister Martha Carolyn Usnick of Albuquerque, New Mexico, both passed away a few years before Lee.

His hobbies included gardening, music, and skiing, he particularly enjoyed golf and flying. While he did not get to fly in the USAF, he earned his Private and Instrument flying licenses in the early 1970’s and his pilot flying time was about 700 hours. Most of his flying was in the eastern part of the U.S. but also flew to the Bahama Islands a number of times. He started playing golf in the early 1950’s but didn’t have any holes-in-one until 2002 and 2003. His affection for music started with playing brass instruments in grade school and high school bands in Arthur, Illinois, and eventually took up the electronic organ.

He and Helen enjoyed travelling and attending weeklong conventions in most of the major cities in the U.S. and one to Mexico City, Mexico. They had a two-week time share condominium in Cancun, Mexico that they often shared with friends and relatives each year for about 25 years. They vacationed in Florida for a few months each year in retirement for a number of years until they moved to Arizona. They also went on a number of cruises including the West Coast, the Baltic Sea, and two to the Mediterranean.

He enjoyed participating in the Pebblebrook Men’s golf club, the Bandits golf club, the Engineers club, the Organ and Keyboard club, and the Computer club in Sun City West, and was President of the Pennsylvania Club for 3 years. He also enjoyed his associations with the Fraternal Order of Elks, the American Legion, and was a 32nd Degree Mason.

He was forever grateful to so many with friendly advice and support throughout his childhood and adult life. While there were sacrifices to serve in the USAF, he greatly appreciated the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S., particularly after travelling to other countries and seeing the limitations there. The GI Bill supported him through college, and subsequent employers provided support for further education. Being one of such an interdependent people, he felt so blessed to have received so much, from so many, not only friends and mentors, but also medical, business and other professionals whose vocations led them to help others. He tried to give some too, and found the more he gave, the more he enjoyed giving.

Lee will be greatly missed.

A Celebration of Life is planned for Lee at the Windmill Hotel in Surprise, Arizona at 11am on Saturday, November 7th.

In lieu of flowers, contributions are encouraged to help the Salvation Army, MS Society, or the Cancer Society.