Leon Szyller<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A Holocaust survivor, Szyller was born in Bedzin, Poland and grew up with his family in Paris. He and his three siblings were scattered and separated before the onslaught of the Nazi invasion. After narrowly evading death at the hands of the Gestapo as a teenager, Szyller escaped and was was sent to America during World War II when he was just 16 years old. He initially settled in Philadelphia, taking up studies at Temple University before enlisting in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n
Following his military service, he moved to New Orleans with his first wife Emma Campbell Szyller and eventually graduated from Tulane University. At first Szyller became a teacher, but took on a side job as an estimator\/salesman with a home improvement company in order to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
In 1957 Szyller and his wife founded the company that bore his initials, L.A.S. Enterprises. In order to sell his products took to unusual advertising campaigns to get his message across. At first he began to offer free gifts, such as kitchen cookware sets, to families that would arrange for estimates. “The public still believes in Santa Claus,” Szyller was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
In 1972 Szyller unveiled one of his most famous TV advertising campaigns. The scene opened on a sad sack workman and the ad exhorted the public to “Put This Man to Work…this man doesn’t work much in the winter,” it explained. The public responded by calling in for estimates in droves. Sales for the company soared.<\/p>\n
Another successful campaign followed the next year with a different slogan, “Fight the Uglies!” This ad featured a small green creature with large claws and gnashing,\u00a0sharp teeth. \u00a0This unique phrase, coupled with pictures of an \u201cUgly Monster\u201d sitting on the rotting wood of an old house, became an instant hit. The phrase soon became trademarked.<\/p>\n
Sales were so large that L.A.S. Enterprises was recognized as the largest home improvement company in the South and soon moved into spacious new headquarters on the I-10 service road.<\/p>\n
Following the Louisiana oil bust in the 1980s, Szyller chose to sell the company after 30 years as president and CEO. He returned\u00a0to school to earn a Ph.D. in psychotherapy at age 64 and soon set up his own private practice, New Horizons Institute. Szyller often treated clients addicted to alcohol and drugs both as a therapist and a practitioner of body-based therapy. He advocated several relaxation and meditation techniques in his practice.<\/p>\n
Szyller was an active member of the Northshore Jewish Congregation and served as its president. In 2013, he was named Peoples Health Champion in recognition of his numerous talks about his experience as a Holocaust survivor. He loved to travel the world, was a marathon runner and an avid reader. Szyller was an advocate of holistic living, organic gardening, and country living.<\/p>\n
In recent years he became a prominent speaker on the Holocaust, often speaking to children’s groups to inform them of the experiences he kept locked up in his memory.<\/p>\n
He is survived by his wife Bobette Rothenberg Szyller; his children Anna Arshad, Marcel (Jane) and Rene Szyller (Mabel); his stepchildren Robin Graubarth, Jonathan Graubarth, and \u00a0Heidi Vizelberg (Igor); and seven grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Funeral services were held on Thursday, April 28, 2016, at Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W. 21st Ave, Covington in Covington\u00a0at 2:30 p.m. Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer officiated.<\/p>\n
Memorial donations to Northshore Jewish Congregation or Congregation Gates of Prayer are preferred.<\/p>\n
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