By Karst Brandsma - Sunnyside High School ASB President - 1971-72
Lenny Van Pelt, was a 1977 Graduate of Sunnyside High School and passed away on December 8, 2010. He was 51 and died from Gaucher's Disease. He was known as an "International Patient Advocate."
Lenny was Attorney at Law and Founder of International Patient Advocacy Association, a nonprofit. He was a legal advocate for people with genetic and chronic illnesses and specialized in legal support for patients with Gaucher's Disease.
Lenny was active at Sunnyside High School in FFA and along with classmate Chris Shearer won first-place honors in the record keeping and FFA creed competitions. He also attended the FFA Conference in Kansas City, where he met President Jimmy Carter while representing Washington State FFA.
Lenny was one of the first pioneers of being diagnosed with Gaucher's Disease himself in 1986 at the age of 27. He had performed research in great detail of this disease and decided to become an attorney so that he could do what he loved in being an advocate for people with his same type of genetic disease. He was the first to test and take the new drugs to combat Gaucher's and became a vital resource for various pharmaceuticals such as Pfizer, Merk and Genzyme companies.
Lenny loved music and the last three years played the piano for the Chateau La Jolla Inn. Lenny played by ear and had a natural talent to hear music and then play it. He also played guitar. Lenny was a positive person and had a great sense of humor even though he lived with pain from his Gaucher's Disease. He always had a smile on his face and loved to be with people.
Lenny was a member of the Sunnyside Presbyterian Church and a member of the Washington State Law Association as well as the National Gaucher Foundation. Lenny was active at Sunnyside High School in FFA and along with classmate Chris Shearer won first-place honors in the record keeping and FFA creed competitions. He also attended the FFA Conference in Kansas City, where he met President Jimmy Carter while representing Washington State FFA.
Lenny was also honored as a Sunnyside High School Wall of Fame recipient. Lenny has a son, Nico VanPelt Melchior and was remembered by his sister Willemina Van Pelt ('72) from Hood River, Oregon with her donation to the SHS Alumni Fund. You can donate HERE!
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