Leonid Hermann Telepnev

Leonid Hermann Telepnev, 92, a longtime resident of Waterloo passed away on May 22, 2025, at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (PDD).

Leo was born in Maribor, Yugoslavia, in what is present day Slovenia. He and his family survived World War II in Nazi occupied territories which were eventually liberated by the United States Army. Shortly after the war ended, he and his family were sponsored by a family in Clinton, Iowa when he was 19. To show his appreciation to America and what it did for his family, he enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. That is where he met his future wife Lore and brought her back to the United States. They would eventually settle in Waterloo and raise two boys: Lance and Troy.

He had a long career at Young Plumbing & Heating working as a project estimator on several jobs including high profile projects such as the downtown Waterloo Holiday Inn, the UNI-Dome and several other buildings on the University of Northern Iowa campus. Leo retired in 2002 and spent more time bowling in leagues at Maple Lanes and playing as much golf as he could fit in while the sun was still above the horizon. Leo had three holes-in-one, but his first and most famous was on hole #2 at Byrnes Park in Waterloo. With his son Lance watching from the #3 tee, Leo’s shot took two bounces and landed in the hole. Lance didn’t bother telling him it was in the hole until after his father took several minutes looking for his ball in the surrounding bushes. Eventually, he decided to let him off the hook and tell him what happened. He almost got a 4th at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, CA on E.O. Nay hole #10 but unfortunately, he left his shot less than one inch to the right of the cup and a “gimme” wasn’t awarded.

Leo was an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan and held season tickets to the Chicago Cubs, attending weekend home games for several years until the post season drought just became too much to bear. When not watching the Hawkeyes or Cubs, you could have found him at the Meskwaki Casino in Tama or in any local Las Vegas-area casino.

Leo is survived by his two sons: Lance (Julie) Telepnev of Huntington Beach, CA and Troy (Vivi) Telepnev of Waukee, IA, and three grandchildren: Joshua Telepnev of Huntington Beach, CA, Alyssa Telepnev of Irvine, CA and Branden Telepnev of Waukee, IA. He was preceded in death by his wife Lore Telepnev, his sister Sonja Telepnev, and parents John and Frieda Telepnev.

The Telepnev family kindly requests no flowers.  Donations to Dementia research will be accepted in Leo’s name at https://www.cdr.rfmh.org/