STORY BY JASON GREEN, STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF CYPRESS COLLEGE
The Maintenance and Operations Department will hold a memorial for Cypress College’s grounds coordinator Sergio Leonardo on April 23 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) compound.
On March 28, President Dr. Scott W. Thayer announced on Cypress College’s website that Leonardo died from an unexpected medical emergency at his home in Artesia, California on March 22. He was 52.
Leonardo began working at Cypress as an hourly custodian in 1996. In 1997, he was promoted to groundskeeper, and in 2017, Leonardo was promoted to grounds coordinator, the top position in the grounds division. Leonardo worked at Cypress College for 28 years.
Leonardo is survived by his two children, Noah and Ashlee Leonardo, 18 and 21, and his brother, Victor Leonardo, who works as a night-shift custodian at Cypress.
As the grounds coordinator, Leonardo directed work to maintain the campus such as taking care of the plants and the sports fields.
Leonardo’s favorite type of tree, a ponytail palm tree, will be planted at the memorial. The location of the tree is yet to be determined.
“Sergio’s just a joyous individual to be around, somebody that lights up a room. You know, crack a few jokes here and there,” said Philip Fleming, Director of Physical Plant and Facilities, who the Cypress Chronicle interviewed after attending a service for Leonardo.
Fleming noted that he would never hear complaints about Leonardo from other coworkers. According to Fleming, Leonardo was reliable and took his job seriously, as Leonardo was active in his job, and consistently seen on campus grounds managing.
“Nice to see an employee role model like Sergio was, you know. That is what you want of staff and he performed well.”
In an email to the Cypress Chronicle, Vice President of Administrative Services Stephen Schoonmaker said, “I miss him greatly – a tremendous loss for our campus community.”
For the event to prepare for the number of people planning to attend, an RSVP for the on-campus eulogy service is required, and an email to Vanessa Gonzales at vgonzales@cypresscollege.edu.
