Leon Pytlik, 80, Valley City, ND passed away peacefully on April 17, 2021, surrounded by his family under hospice care. A celebration of Leon’s life will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Valley City on Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 1:00 PM. Due to Covid 19, masks are recommended and wearing them is encouraged by the family. Social distancing is also encouraged. The service will be live streamed then archived and available to view along with the obituary on his tribute page at www.lerudschuldt.com
After the Memorial Service there will be a gathering open to the public at the Chautauqua Park Pavilion in Valley City. Everyone is welcome.
Leon was born August 27, 1940, to Roberta and Alvin Pytlik, Valley City, ND. He grew up in Valley City where he attended Valley City Public Schools until his graduation in May 1958. Leon earned a teaching degree in math and industrial arts at Valley City State Teachers College in 1962. He went on to teach at Valley City, Mandan, and North Central of Barnes County; spending summers working as an auditor for the ND State Auditor’s Office. On July 3, 1969, he took over running Valley City Oil Company as an agent for Enco/Exxon. He later purchased the business, and in 1972 he started a shooting sports business which later became Northwestern Industries. He ran both businesses until 1989 when he sold Valley City Oil Company. He continued to run Northwestern Industries until his death.
Although Leon only taught school for a short period of time, he left lasting impressions on his students. He loved to teach, which he continued in several capacities throughout his life. He had a simple philosophy in the classroom; win over the most stubborn student in the room and you control the room. Many former students would stop to see him and express their gratitude for helping set them on the “right path”. For Leon, it was easy: find the student’s passion and connect it to the classroom subject, and, if possible, to hunting. Many times, he proudly shared stories of past students’ successes.
Leon was an avid shooter and hunter and prided himself on his knowledge of shooting sports. He excelled as a competitive shooter in trap, bullseye, and silhouette shooting, amassing hundreds of honors and awards including the Von Bismarck Tournament Cup, the Gold Medal for Sectional Championship and the ND State Indoor Handgun Championship on two occasions. He won numerous trap and silhouette championships by shooting perfect scores at several events. He also won the Manitoba Rifle and Pistol Outdoor Expert Overall Aggregate three times.
To say he was passionate about shooting is probably an understatement. He would work on specific loads by tweaking the recipe for each gun until he had an expert load. Most times, the load had to allow a three-shot group to be covered by a dime at a hundred yards. He would then exclaim with a smile, “Well the gun is capable, if you miss it’s all on you!”, which Leon rarely did. This passion also drove most other events in his life where solid process was more important than speed.
His favorite hunting passion was whitetail deer although he also enjoyed hunting ducks, geese, pheasants, antelope, mule deer, fox, coyote, and an occasional caribou. He had one goal in mind each deer season: hunt as long as possible each season, or, on occasion, when a really big buck came into his sights the season would end early. Many times, such this past season, Leon and oldest son Mick filled their buck tags with about 2 hours left in the season and within 5 minutes of each other. They were hunting within 100 yards of each other when opportunity arose. Mick had not hunted for several years so it was very fitting that he and Leon finished the season together. This season ending was Leon’s “Super Bowl MVP” event of his hunting career.
He was affiliated with several shooting and hunting organizations. He remained involved in the Valley City Rifle and Pistol Club, Barnes County Wildlife Club, Ducks Unlimited, and Delta Waterfowl. He also held lifetime memberships in the National Rifle Association (Benefactor), North Dakota Shooting Sports, Dakota Territory Gun Collectors, and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. One his strongest passion was supporting the Second Amendment.
He was very proud of several accomplishments while he served on the Valley City Commission from 1986-1990. He founded a Latch Key Program for single mothers, providing a place for their children to stay after school. He also led the effort to start 911 service in Valley City & Barnes County (after 911 service had been implemented, he even got to try it out, and he was incredibly pleased with how well it worked!). He also helped get the Teen Canteen started which provided a place for area youth to gather and have fun. He served as a Barnes County Reserve Deputy where he trained deputies on handgun use and safety.
He found success with writing, authoring a column for Dakota Country for several years and writing a weekly column for the local paper for 37 years known as “On Target.”
Leon loved everything about his family! If you wanted to see his eyes light up, you only needed to ask him about his family. He loved talking about his kids and grandkids, especially if there was a story around his passions: hunting or shooting. In addition, he was always willing to share stories about the events, mainly plays and sports, that filled the lives of his grandkids.
Leon is survived by his wife of 60 years, Marleen; three sons — Mick (Robyn) Pytlik of West Fargo, Joe (Lori) Pytlik of Horace, and Darin (Jen) Pytlik of Golden, CO; 8 grandchildren — Mick’s daughters: Roberta (Tim) of Fargo, Melissa (Andrew) of West Fargo, and Michaela of Fargo; Joe’s sons: Ian of Annapolis, MD, and Evan and Cooper of Horace; Darin’s son, Jace, and daughter, Julia, of Golden, CO; and one great grandson, Owen, and one great granddaughter, Elenora.
Leon is survived by his sister Gayle (Mike) Hoff of Valley City, his aunt Arvilla Shepler of Fargo, his brother-in-law Larry (Norma) Miller of Valley City, sisters-in-law Diane (Larry) Kouba of Apple Valley, MN and Sharon (Denny) Anundson of Valley City as well as six nieces and three nephews.
He was preceded in death by his mother Roberta, father Alvin, his beloved Aunt Leone, grandparents, mother-in-law Mabel Miller, father-in-law Jim Miller, and many other aunts and uncles.
Lerud Mathias Funeral Home in Valley City is assisting Leon’s family with arrangements.