In Loving Memory

Leonard S. Marrella, PhD

On Easter Sunday of this year, Len was reunited at the young age of 91 with our Lord in Heaven and with his loving wife of 68 years, Dee.  Len was one of the founders of Spring Ridge Financial Group and led the firm from 2000 to 2006.  Many of our clients knew Len for a decade prior to his time at Spring Ridge Financial Group, when he was a part of Wyomissing Financial Group.  I met Len in 2001 at a book signing for In Search of Ethics: Conversations with Men and Women of Character, a book he authored.  While a part of Spring Ridge Financial Group, he founded The Center for Leadership and Ethics and loved giving presentations to inspire not only young West Point Cadets, but audiences throughout the country.  Being a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, an Army Ranger, a colonel in the Army, and having had career success prior to starting Spring Ridge Financial Group, his commitment to doing what is right by his clients, his partners, his employees, and his family and friends was of utmost importance to him.  I will be forever grateful to Len for giving me the opportunity to join Spring Ridge Financial Group and for being the best mentor anyone could ask for until he retired in 2006.  Len was the original host of “The Money Doctor Show” on WEEU, and it remains a privilege for me to continue hosting that show for the past 20 years.

He was a man of many stories, some light-hearted, some profound.  His leadership style was based on the Three C’s: Caring, Competence, and Character.  He would often refer to his favorite quotes, such as “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care” and “Character is what we do when no one is watching.”  Len inspired me and the rest of our professional team every day.   A person felt immediately calm in his presence, and his smile could warm your heart without even trying.  He also reminded us that optimists are more successful than pessimists.  He was the eternal optimist. 

Three beautiful daughters, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild filled his life with love and laughter.  I am positive that his loving family, and those of us at Spring Ridge Financial Group, will allow Len’s spirit to live on in everything we do.  Our physical bodies are temporary, but the good we do while we are on this Earth extends beyond our human existence.  Thank you, Len, for your service to our country and our clients, for embracing servant leadership, and for allowing us to get to know and love you.

You will be missed but never forgotten, nor will your stories…especially the one where you threw Willie Mays out at home plate during a West Point exhibition game.  We know you would enjoy us ending our tribute with that story.  😊

Eternal rest grant unto you, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon you.

Virgil A. Kahl CPA, CFP®