Leroy Hirni, Kiwanis builder.
Leroy Hirschi Hirni was born December 11, 1913, in Prairie City, Missouri. He was the third of five children born to Alma Hirschi and Edward Hirni.
After graduating high school in 1932, he studied at the Lincoln Airplane and Flying School both through correspondence and at the mechanic and ground school in Lincoln, Nebraska. This knowledge set him up for a career in the U.S. Navy. Leroy first served on the USS Langley and later the USS Lexington in the search for Amelia Earhart. His career took him to Kansas City, San Diego, through the Panama Canal, Alaska, and Whidbey Island Naval Air Station where he retired on July 26, 1954, after 20 years of service.
Leroy married Wayve Willena Bartz on June 19, 1936, in San Diego. Leroy and Wayve had known each other since they were young children. The couple had three children: Phyllis Rabourn, Larry Hirni, and Terry Don Hirni.
After retiring from the Navy, Leroy joined Kiwanis in the fall of 1954. He was secretary of the club from 1959 to 1966 and when the club decided to start a thrift store in 1986, he was there supporting it. In 1988 he helped build the new Kiwanis building and put in hundreds of building hours. He spent 80-90 hours a month at the shop and was always remembered wearing his pin stripe blue overalls and blue cap with the Kiwanis Emblem.
Leroy passed away on April 27, 2012 and is interred at Grand View Cemetery in Anacortes, Washington.
