Born on Independence Day, 1920, Mr. Muskin was an all-state tackle on the football team. After graduation, Mr. Muskin joined the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers team that played against Stanford in the 1941 Rose Bowl before 92,000 fans. During World War II, Leonard served in the Pacific on an attack carrier, the USS Essex. He was the pilot of a dive-bomber and torpedo plane and earned two Navy Crosses for two successive days of combat, sinking the Japanese battleship Musachi. After the war, in 1947, Mr. Muskin founded Interco Builders in Southern California. His company has built more than 5,000 residential and commercial properties. Even at the age of 87, he remains active in the building industry and managing investments and travels to his office every day.
Leonard passed away in 2008 at the age of 88.