unsold sweaters with her, thinking she could sell them to our telephone operators. Instead she sold all eleven of them to the stewardess- es and passengers on the plane home. She was very busy on the plane making change for all her customers. That’s a true sales person. When Wendy married Max we were still struggling to establish the answering service business. But I was determined that Wendy would have the most beautiful dress I could find no matter what it cost. We found it on Los Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. It was $1,500 and worth every penny. I ordered Wendy a bridal crown of real flowers. I worried that they would wilt before the night was over but they didn’t. Wendy and everything she wore was so beautiful that the photographer told me he loved taking her picture. One of his pictures of her was in the window of his studio for a long time afterward. I wasn’t sure about Wendy joining the company. I worried that it wouldn’t keep her
attention over the long term. But Wendy took hold of her business responsibilities with both hands and is now the head of marketing and sales for the entire company. She works with many of the largest and most popular compa- nies in the world. Her personality is perfect for the position – she makes clients and employ- ees both feel welcome and comfortable. And her office is right next to her father’s. Like all my children Wendy adores and respects her father. His opinion is always part of her deci- sion making. EAGLE TRACE I gradually stopped going to the office in 1998. That does not mean I left the business. In a family business, being in the family means you are always in the business. With all the kids grown and grandkids beginning to appear it was time to move again. Our beautiful Palm Aire home where we had lived for almost 14 years was now too small for high chairs and cribs and there was no way to expand. I did lots of research looking for a new home. We looked as far as Frenchman’s Creek, which is almost as far as West Palm Beach. We finally decided to move to a place in Boca Raton called The Polo Club. That was when our son, Frank, said to us, “Mom, we want you to be happy but we won’t be able to see you as much as we do now because of the distance.” That was all I needed to hear. We kept looking. One day we heard about a community called Eagle Trace in Coral Springs. The build- ers were offering homes on spec. We decided to take a look. I remember getting out of the car, it was after six P.M. I stepped over some circular concrete pads and into what would be the living room. The house was about 25 per cent finished. I looked up. There was no roof on the building. Something clicked. I told Herman, “This is it.” He said, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes, this is it.” And so it was. Now we have been in this house for about 23 years. Eventually two of our sons, Frank and Stephen, and our daugh- ter, Wendy, moved into Eagle Trace. Our son, Michael, lives about twenty minutes away in Parkland.
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Dorothy & Wendy Leuchter
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