THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510170082
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
The fire started in the wiring behind a wall, erupting into the living quarters about 8 a.m.
The smoke alarm sounded a warning, but it was unnecessary.
The home's sole occupant, 85-year-old Paul Liephart, already was up, sitting in the back yard when he smelled the smoke.
Liephart rushed inside, saw the curtains ablaze and called to his dog, Pepper.
Despite the heat, smoke and flames, the dog heeded her master's voice and escaped.
When the last firefighters departed some four hours later, Pepper, a 6-year-old cockapoo who is nearly blind, and the clothes on his back were all Liephart had left. Everything else he owned was destroyed, either by fire or by smoke and water damage, in the smoldering ruin that had been his home since 1955 in the Norva Homes section of Norfolk.
It was a cruel blow to a man who had left his home in York, Pa., in 1929 to join the Navy, a move that ultimately would bring him to Norfolk.
Starting as a hospital corpsman, he would serve for 30 years, seeing duty in the Atlantic and South Pacific during World War II before retiring as a lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps.
In 1989 he had survived colon cancer. In 1990 his wife passed away; they had no children. In 1993 he successfully underwent a knee replacement. Although the years had taken their toll, until the fire, Leiphart still swam daily, driving himself to the Breezy Point Officer's Pool; he has swum more than 3,000 miles.
Even that was taken away by the Sept. 20 fire. His car had been parked up against the house when the fire broke out; both sets of keys were inside. The front end literally melted from the heat.
Liephart and his late wife may have been childless, but the children in the neighborhood had adopted the frugal Pennsylvania Dutchman, as he describes himself, as one of their own.
``Mr. Paul,'' as they call him, ``always had the best Halloween candy,'' one said.
``I have a last name they can't pronounce so they call me `Mr. Paul,' '' Leiphart explained, grinning.
The neighborhood kids weren't about to lose their friend, even temporarily to a hotel or motel, so they mobilized, enlisting their parents, other neighbors, community organizations and even a couple of schools.
The kids at Crossroads Elementary saved their milk and lunch money, raising $84.
Donations from the faculty and the PTA brought the figure up to $150. On Oct. 6, a delegation from the school, comprised of Adrienne Edwards, 9, Arthur Kay, 10, guidance counselor Malessa Smith and PTA representative Cynthia Jedlowski, came by after school to present a check in that amount to Liephart.
Frances Broome, 73, a neighbor down the street, took him in, offering him a room until his house can be rebuilt. Broome's daughter, Susan, 37, became the organizer for a community effort to clear the debris from the burned-out house, enlisting other neighborhood volunteers to pitch in. A senior citizens bowling team brought clothing.
``They've always been good neighbors and friends,'' Liephart said. ``I'm not surprised, but I'm very pleased. They've been outstanding.''
The Fleet Reserve Association has been very generous, according to Liephart.
Neighbors have dropped by with new clothes purchased just for him. His masonic organization, the Naomi lodge, also has helped out.
``I try to be unflappable,'' Liephart said, ``but without Susan, I'd have never made it.''
Through her son, Graham Lindsey, 15, a sophomore at Norview High School, Broome got in touch with master chief David Locklear and chief warrent officer Dan Jenkins of the school's NROTC unit.
``We let them know what happened and that he was ex-military,'' she recalled, ``and the next thing we knew they were calling to ask when they could come out and help.''
On Sept. 26 a big, yellow school bus from Norview pulled up in front of Liephart's charred house in the 8100 block of Colin Drive, bringing some 20 NROTC students to assist with the cleanup.
``They stayed for two hours and, when they had to leave, they asked if they could come back again,'' Broome explained.
They came back again a week later, on Oct. 3, and stayed for another hour and a half. All told, the neighbors and the students removed enough fire, smoke and water-damaged items from the house to fill two large dumpsters.
Liephart described the outpouring of community support from neighbors, young and old, many of whom he never had met, as ``overwhelming.''
Construction to rebuild Liephart's home, which will have to be completely gutted before being rebuilt, began Oct. 9 and will take three to six months. In the meantime, Broome, who lives in Bayview, continues to come by daily to drive Liephart to the base, where he can take a shower, since he has difficulty getting in and out of a conventional bathtub. Friends, neighbors and students, young and old, also continue to drop by to see how ``Mr. Paul'' is doing as he looks confidently to the future.
To what do the residents of Norva Homes attribute the tremendous outpouring of caring and concern to the solitary man in their midst who has suffered this misfortune?
Broome sums it up for all of them when she says, ``He's too much of an asset to the community to let go.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by SUSAN BROOME
Paul Liephart is surrounded by Norview High School NROTC members.
Students clean dishes and cutlery recovered from Liephart's home.
by CNB