Leandro `Woody' Verzola, 53, Mentored Troubled Indian Youths

Leandro "Woody" Verzola, a powerful mentor for Seattle's troubled youths, didn't know he wanted to help young people when he hired on at United Indians of All Tribes in 1970.

Family members said he was "a child of the Yesler projects" himself, and no stranger to life's jagged edge.

"But when he started working with young people, he knew it was what he wanted to do," said his wife, Lorri Verzola of Everett. "He saw these kids were going through the same things he'd gone through, the hurts and the pain."

She said Mr. Verzola, who died of cancer Friday, Feb. 2 at 53, soon organized athletic tournaments for street youths and started going to the Juvenile Detention Center to find Native-American youths in need of his support.

Mr. Verzola, of Aleut and Filipino heritage, also helped United Indians obtain funding to establish I-Wa-Sil youth home in Northwest Seattle as an adjunct to the downtown shelter.

"Inspiring people was what he loved to do," said his wife. "He would even hire people on the staff, people no one else would hire, just to give them a chance. He never said anyone was a failure."

He referred to himself as a "recovered alcoholic," she said. "People in AA say `I'm in re-covery.' But he got well on his own, saying, `I'm in `dis-covery.' "

His sister Dolores Dunning of Andover, Mass., said growing up in a high-crime area helped shape the man Mr. Verzola became.

"He was very spiritual, generous, honest," she said. "I think he understood something about the desperate quality of Indian kids."

His gift, she said, was his ability to have deep, one-on-one conversations, sharing pain and knowledge, offering solutions but listening, too.

He also loved to dance - especially to soul music - and attend the theater.

"We went to see ("Les Miserables") a few years ago. It turned him around," said his wife. "He couldn't believe people could express such emotions and ideas on stage. We went to the theater as much as we could, ever since."

Other survivors include his children Adrian, Christina, Stephanie and Stacey Verzola, all of Everett; his father, Sam Verzola, and sister Diane Naimon, both of Seattle; and his brothers Manuel Verzola of Edmonds, and Buddy Reyes, Sonny Verzola, Bobby Verzola and Freddy Verzola, all of Seattle.

Services are pending.