Lake County, Indiana



GARY POST TRIBUNE OBIT 2 July 1959

LESLIE COMBS SR DIES; Pioneer City Business Leader

Leslie I. Combs Sr., pioneer builder/businessman prominent in 
Gary civic affairs for 50 years, died shortly after 5 this morning 
in Methodist Hospital.  He was 81. The funeral will be at 2 pm 
tomorrow at the Williams and Burns Chapel.
Combs came to Gary in 1908, two years after the city was founded. 
He entered the home building business in 1917 with Joseph Verplank, 
organizing the firm that became L.I. Combs & Sons, Inc. In the 42 
years since its organization, the firm has put up numerous homes, 
apartment, commercial buildings and other structures, including 
the multi-million dollar Village Shopping Center at 35th and Grant.
In the residential field, the firm built more than 2,000 homes, 
first on the West Side and later in other areas as the city grew.
Combs snubbed retirement and remained active in the firm until 
his final illness.  He was in the hospital for several months as 
his health declined, and he fell into a coma yesterday.  He died 
at 5:15 a.m. Combs combined a successful career with a leading 
role in civic activities, going back to 1918 when he headed Gary's 
Liberty Bond drive.
He served on the Gary School Board from 1926 to 1935, including 
a year as president. William A. Wirt was then superintendent of 
schools.
Combs was a member of the city plan commission four years, and 
served on the Salvation Army advisory board for more than 30 
years, playing a leading role in the establishment of a youth 
center and chapel at Ted's Trailer Town.
As a member of the Gary Historical Society, he took, charge of 
reconstructing and moving the society's museum headquarters to 
its present location on 4th Avenue off Massachusetts.
Combs was a member and former officer of the Gary Chamber of 
Commerce and a member of Gary Real Estate Board, Rotary Club 
and City Methodist Church.
He received his 50-year Masonic pin in 1956, and was a member 
of Gary Lodge 677, the Fort Wayne Consistory and the Orak Shrine 
of Hammond.
Combs and his wife, Ella, both native Vermonters, became adopted 
Hoosiers after their marriage in 1903. They first settled in 
Cayuga, Indiana, where Combs manufactured building brick.
It was his Cayuga business that introduced Combs to Gary. Much 
of that business was the supplying of bricks to the newborn 
city of steel. His bricks went into many commerical, hospital, 
and steel company buildings that are now historic marks. His 
move from Cayuga to Gary was made to further this business.
Combs opened a brick supply firm when he came to Gary in 1908, 
and the firm sold the bricks that went into many of the Steel 
City's first permanent homes on the West Side.
	When the construction business sagged in the depression 
of 1914, Combs acquired an interest in Harrington's Grocery at 
25 W 6th Avenue, and remained with the business until he returned 
to the construction field in 1917.
His construction-realty firm expanded, and Combs was joined in 
business by his son, Allen, in 1927, and Leslie Jr., in 1940. 
Management of the firm now passes to them.
Other survivors are the widow, Ella; a daughter, Mrs. Mary Davis 
of Gary, eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.  A 
brother, Harold, who also lived in Gary, died some years ago.
Three pastors,, the Rev John Ward of City Church, the Rev James 
Bennett of Ambridge Methodist Church, and the Rev Clyde Lininger, 
Methodist Hospital chaplain, will officiate at the funeral 
tomorrow.
Pallbearers will be Orville Tittle, Ross Bain, Robert G. Jones, 
Jack Gilroy Jr., Charles Atkins Jr., and William Ridgely.
Burial will be in Ridgelawn Cemetery. There will be a Masonic 
service at the funeral home at 7:30 tonight.


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Submitted By KATHERINE BUTLER
Email- homecare@gte.net