So the wildest thing about Leap’s service was that he never told me about his scholarship to play basketball and baseball at SMU. He turned it down and started working full time and somehow playing semi-pro ball in that time frame while working.
When he left home at a young age, he moved in with his father figure who was his sister’s husband who had his own business putting up billboards. The deal was that his brother in law would care for him and provide for him and that when he graduated hs, Leap would work for him and provide for his (Leap’s) ailing mother.
He acted like it was no big deal and that was what he was supposed to do. He had no intention of going anywhere other than making money and providing. He did the same while starting his own business and becoming a respected figure in the community in Ardmore while supporting my dad, his two brothers and my grandmother.
He chose Ardmore because it was in the middle of OKC and DFW, where both his and my grandmother’s families lived. Absolutely honorable. Solid citizen that guy!
He became a lifelong frog as a child. He would sell scrap metal that he would find to buy a ticket to watch the frogs. Other days, he and his friends would ride their bicycles all around Fort Worth looking for a team to play ball with and when that failed they would pull money together and ride the bus around doing the same. He always had a giant love for sports and his home team. As a child he would watch the legends and he was a part of history up until he was nearly 90 years old.
Fly High Leap! Frog baseball and football will never be the same.
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