Leonard Niepokoj, age 82, of Crown Point, IN, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, February 1, 2013. Len graduated from Emerson High School and Indiana University, School of Business, Bloomington, IN. He served in the U. S. Army, stationed in Alaska. Len was an entrepreneur in real estate development and mortgage banking. He was President and founder of Suburban Mortgage. Len held leadership positions in many organizations including President of I.U. Alumni Club, during which he helped lay the cornerstone for Tamarack Hall at I. U. Northwest, President of Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association, the Merrillville Rotary Club and the Merrillville Chamber of Commerce during a period of tremendous growth. Len enjoyed playing bridge and was an avid I.U. sports fan and outdoorsman who loved fishing, boating, hunting and gardening. He inspired his family with his will to survive personifying the philosophy of “The Old Man and the Sea”: “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”. Len is survived by his wife, Ruby (nee Kottaridis); daughters: Linda (Thomas) Shaughnessy of River Forest, IL, Carol (Doug) Doorenbos of Readfield, ME, and son, Dean (Ellen) of Crown Point, IN; grandchildren: Kathryn, Caroline, Quinn, Yevy, Leeza and Isabella; sister, Jeanette Kesel of Crown Point, IN; brother, Sigmund of Chesterton, IN; and sister-in-law, Bernice Niepokoj of Chesterton, IN. Len was predeceased in death by parents, Stanley and Sophie (nee Wilusz) Niepokoj; brother, Chester; brother-in-law, Stanley Kesel, sister-in-law, Elaine Niepokoj, and nephew Dan Niepokoj. Friends may visit with the family on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, IN, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, February 6, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. at Burns Funeral Home with Father Ted Poteres officiating. Entombment will follow at Calumet Park Cemetery, Merrillville. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Children’s Heart Foundation, P.O. Box 244, Lincolnshire, IL 60069.
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