November 11, 2007

He was a lifelong learner
Leo Shapiro, 102, helped pioneer campus programs for continuing education.

By ROBIN HINCH

Born: Jan. 4, 1905, Chicago, Ill.

Died: Oct. 31, 2007, Anaheim

Survivors: Longtime companion, Barbara Paige; two nieces; one nephew.

Services: 2 p.m. Nov. 20, Temple Beth Tikvah, Fullerton.

Donations: Braille Institute, Doheny Eye Institute, or Temple Beth Tikvah.

When Leo Shapiro retired at age 74, restlessness set in quickly.

And he knew right off that senior outings to Knott's Berry Farm and local museums weren't the answer.

So he went to Cal State Fullerton to see what he could find and ended up helping pioneer a continuing-education program on campus for retirees that has become a national model. He also helped spearhead fundraising for – and donated generously to – the Ruby Gerontology Center on campus.

He was 102 when he died Oct. 31.

A Chicago native, he graduated from the University of Chicago and went to work for Sears & Roebuck Co. After 20 years as merchandise manager for cosmetics and medicines, he took early retirement in 1944.

Having promised his wife, Devorah, that they would move to California one day, they headed west in 1945 and settled in Anaheim, where Leo started the Druggette – a concept he developed of leasing aisle space in specialty markets to sell cosmetics, personal-care products and over-the-counter medicines.

It was an instant success and his company was bought in 1950 by Raisin Markets, for whom he continued to work. Raisin became Alpha Beta in 1958.

After retiring from Alpha Beta as vice president of sales and marketing, Leo did consulting work.

Devorah died in 1986.

Once fully retired and calling himself "a seasoned citizen," Leo, a man of vision and determination, went to Cal State Fullerton to ask about continuing education classes and quickly teamed up with campus administrators to help develop the Continuing Learning Education program, known popularly as CLE (pronounced "klee").

Leo's idea was to offer non-credit classes to people at or near retirement age who needed a new focus and intellectual challenge. There would be no homework, no research papers, no exams. Just learning and fun, he said.

He was also adamant that the offerings be educational, NOT recreational. They were to give people a chance to take all the classes they hadn't been able to squeeze in among the required college courses.

He even balked at bridge lessons until others convinced him the game is excellent for keeping minds nimble and alert.

"We appeal to special people dedicated to lifelong learning," he said in a 1995 Register article. "We don't offer fun and games."

CLE started in 1979 with 47 members. Today the program, now known as OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), has about 800 members who pay a $215 annual fee that gives them access to all classes, to the campus library and includes a campus parking pass.

As enrollment grew, Leo saw that a new facility would be needed, so in 1982 he helped launch a fundraising campaign for what is now the Ruby Gerontology Center. Leo donated more than $100,000, then used his engaging art of persuasion to enlist the help of many others.

And he wasengaging.

No more than 5 feet tall, slender and dapper, with his trademark bow tie, beret and black-rimmed glasses, he was friendly, funny, charming and debonair, never failing to tip his cap and open doors for the ladies.

He pressed his own suits and shirts and tied his own bow ties. He'd have nothing to do with the clip-ons.

Leo was so well-known for those dark-rimmed specs that when a sculpture of Leo was presented to the Fullerton campus, he looked at it and said, "It doesn't look like me." Then he removed his glasses, put them on the sculpture and said, "NOW it looks like me."

A few days before he died he told a friend, "I have lived a really rich, full life. There is nothing I regret about the life I've lived and I'm ready to go home."

Interviewed for this story: Companion Barbara Paige; OLLI President Barbara Talento; Bill Dickerson, director of the CSUF Auxiliary Services Corp.

Contact the writer: 714-796-6082 or rhinch@ocregister.com