Frederick "Fred" F. Leystra

Frederick Francis Leystra, a devoted husband and loving father and grandfather, died on January 25 after a short bout of lung cancer.

Fred loved golden retrievers, hunting and fishing. He especially loved being with his grandchildren, and shared his love of the outdoors with them. He always lit up around them, even in his final hours. He was an avid reader who was a regular at the Cambria library. He was also a master griller who enjoyed smoking meats. He could be often heard belting out the lyrics to classic rock songs.

Mr. Leystra was born March 31, 1947, in Milwaukee, to Fred and Dorothy Leystra. He grew up and spent most of his life in the Friesland area.

Fred worked for nearly 40 years as a machine mechanic at a canning factory in Cambria. He was a proud member of the factory’s labor union.

A proud Vietnam veteran, Fred enlisted in the army in 1967. He served in Germany and then Vietnam where he was a teletype repair technician and then a mail clerk. He proudly wore his Vietnam Vet hat everywhere he went.

Fred spent his final days surrounded by family at the VA hospital in Madison, where he received phenomenal care. He shared a cake with family in honor of his upcoming 50th wedding anniversary to Helen. The couple met in the winter of 1973 through Helen’s brother Mark, and they spent 6 weeks staring at each other before they started dating.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Richard and Robert, his parents-in-law, and his brothers-in-law Mark and Tim. He is survived by his beloved wife Helen, his children Susan (Chris) Lynch, Brianna (Jim) Bohnsack, Cole (Sarah Quade) Leystra, Tara (Andrew) Leystra Ackerman, and the lights of his life, his grandchildren, Skylar, Chase, Oliver, Finley, Raen, Eliana and Maya. In lieu of flowers, please send any gifts to the family, which will be donated to the Cambria library and services for veterans, both of which were very important to Fred. A private memorial service will be held on February 11th at the Cambria Fire Department Community Center followed by a celebration of life at 12:30 PM.