Walter and Carla Leppen Memorial Scholarship

Walter Leppen and Carla Kjer were married in 1952 after Carla had recovered from tuberculosis.

Walter and his six siblings were born and raised on a farm on the edge of Nelsonville. He graduated from Amherst High School in 1931 and played on the basketball team. Walter enlisted in the Marines in 1941 and served until the war ended in 1945. Much of Walter’s military service was spent in the Northern Mariana Islands which experienced some of the most intense fighting of the war.

After serving his country with great valor and distinction, he returned to Nelsonville and became a partner with his first cousin, Joe Waller, in Waller’s Market and Locker Plant. Walter was active in veterans’ groups, including the VFW in Amherst, and in later years, attended national veterans’ conventions.

Walter was known for his incredible ability to remember and tell jokes which could be heard any day if you stopped at the store and took time to have a cup of coffee. Walter was a long-time member of the Tomorrow River Lions Club and each year at their Christmas party recited his Christmas story from memory to the delight of the attendees.

Carla (Kjer) Leppen and her ten siblings were raised on a dairy farm in rural Amherst Junction. Carla was valedictorian of her eighth-grade class and, after the completion of eight grades, she wanted to further her education at Amherst High but was required to stay at home and work on the farm. Carla then moved to Chicago for employment and sent money home so her siblings could attend school. Upon the death of her first husband, she moved back home to the Kjer farm with children Linda and Jonathon.

Carla and Walter raised four children at their home on the banks of the Tomorrow River in Nelsonville: Linda Carey, Jonathon Oberman, Judy Larson, and Walter (Wally) Leppen. All four children earned post-high school educations.