Martin Jan Leff

Martin Jan Leff

Martin Jan Leff was born February 16, 1931, in Flushing Hospital, Flushing, NY to Florence Hutter Leff and Harry William Leff.  He is survived by his wife of nearly 52 years, Judith Claire Cook Leff, four children Jill (Mike) Lewis, Lisa (John) Leff, Christopher (Katherine) Leff and Jacqueline (Steven) Schmit and grandchildren Jessica Mathews, Lydia (John) Sullivan and Dana (Jack) Harris, Caroline, Thomas and Matthew Leff and Nicholas Schmit, and great-grandchildren Mia Sullivan and Cole Harris.

Marty was educated primarily in Queens, NY schools, attending PS 148, Newton HS, Queens College and obtaining a BME at City College of NY in January 1954.  He received an MBA from Bridgeport University in 1967.

Following graduation from college he began his professional career as a Development Engineer at Fairchild Aircraft, StratosDivision in Bayshore, NY.  His career was interrupted by Uncle Sam, when he was drafted into the Army in July 1954.  He served in the Signal Corp and after completing a 6-month course as a Microwave Radio Repairman was stationed at Camp Gordon, GA.  He later returned to Ft Monmouth, NJ to serve as an instructor at the Signal School until his discharge in June 1956.

He restarted his engineering career at AVCO Lycoming where he joined a team of engineers developing the first gas turbine engine specifically designed for use in helicopters.  His specialty was fuel controls and fuel system accessories.  He served in various capacities in the engineering department until 1973 when he was promoted to VP Product Support and Marketing until his early retirement in 1987.  He worked on various turbine engines such as the T53 (used in the Bell Huey and Cobra), the T55 (used in the Boeing Chinook), the ALF 502 (used in the British Aerospace Bae 146 and the Canadian Challenger) and the AGT 1500 (used in the M1 Abrams tank).

He then took a position as President with NAPCO in Hopkins, MN.  They were a marketer of various military equipment used by governments all over the world.  He then spent 2 ½ years as President of International Associates in Hamden, CT and Hauppauge, NY before starting his own company, Global Engineering which operated for 15 years until 2008.  He served on the City Council in Minnetonka Beach between 1994 and 2000.

He loved golf and was a member of The Lafayette Club in Minnetonka Beach for over 30 years.  He loved reading, bridge, and played regularly at his Florida home in Bonita Springs.

Celebration of life service Tuesday, September 5, 2023, 4:00 PM at Lord Fletcher’s, Spring Park, MN.

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