Leroy & Barbara Carcione live full time on Pretty Lake at 4910 S 930 E, the burnt orange brick home, # 138, on the south east side of the lake.  We purchased our year round home from the Hootman’s in 1999 and we moved here permanently from Fort Wayne in 2001.  

Leroy and Barbara have one son, Mike and his family in who live in Fort Wayne and a  daughter and her family who live in Spencerville, IN.  We have a total of 7 grandchildren and they range in ages from 5 to 24.  Two are out of college, two in college, one in high school and 2 in grade school. All of them love to come to Grandma and Grandpa’s for grandma’s cooking, lake fun and a place to bring their friends.  When needed for weekend babysitting for the 2 youngest it is always their desire to come to the lake.  Family gatherings for all the holidays with extended family and friends are a must at our place on Pretty Lake.   

Barbara is from Fort Wayne, spent numerous family summer vacations on Pretty Lake in the 1940’s at cottage #8 and has always had fond memories of the time spent here, especially the rides down that BIG slide.  It was the highlight of our family vacations to spend a day at the beach with a picnic lunch and each of us having numerous turns going down the slide.  Barbara  retired 5 years ago from Lutheran Hospital after 43 years, 19 of those as a surgical nurse and the last 24 years in Education, Information Systems and then as a Divisional Director for many departments.  Retirement has been very busy with more exciting challenges.  Barbara is involved in numerous organizations & activities at St. Mary’s of the Angels Catholic Church, goes to the Cole YMCA for water aerobics 3 times a week and is a part time water aerobics instructor.  She served on the PL board in 2001 then again joined the board in 2010 and is currently the 2013 President of the PLCC.  She is also on the board for the LaGrange County Lake Council.  For over 30 years Barbara organized high school class reunions and now only does the family reunions.  Barbara has played in the same bridge club for 50 years and that group still meets monthly and has now since we have all retired, we added playing Rummikub once a month.   

Leroy is also from Fort Wayne, born, raised and always worked there.  For 50 years Lee’s Barber shop was on N. Clinton Street, but in 2011 his landlord had other plans for that spot so he closed the shop and moved to Baker’s Hideaway on State Street.  He still works full time, barbering but when at home enjoys gardening, fishing, watching IRL auto races, football games and playing cards, particularly Euchre tournaments. In the fall he volunteers to work the chains at the Bishop Dwenger home football games.  Leroy’s brother Jim lived on Pretty Lake for 30 plus years and Leroy always liked this lake, so when we found a home here it was an easy decision.  Leroy also participates in church functions when his wife volunteers his services.  He does help her on a weekly basis with church cleaning and maintenance.  Leroy has a separate garage as his wood workshop and when he retires he has plenty of woodworking projects on his “To Do” list for his family.  When time allows or demand is intense, he has custom made some beautiful pieces of furniture for family.  Retirement will afford more time for this hobby.    

Leroy and Barbara like to travel, entertain family and friends, relax and enjoy living at the “best & prettiest lake” in the world.  Stop in and see us any time, we would love to meet you.

Well…since I volunteered to maintain the Pretty Lake website, with loads and loads of help from my very talented, creative, beautiful, and patient friend Erin Hochstatter, and since this whole “Meet Your Neighbor” thing was my idea, I’ll go ahead and feature us first!

Dave & Leesa Kern live full time in Huntertown, Indiana and for the past 10 years they have spent most of their summer weekends at their little slice of heaven on Pretty Lake (Cottage #108). For those of you who have been on the lake long enough, their place is the former “Dick’s Dock”, which was owned by Dick and Muriel Hornberger.

Dave & Leesa have two sons with families, one in Chicago IL and the other in Monrovia CA, and they do a fair amount of travel to spend time with them whenever possible. With 5 beautiful grandchildren to keep them entertained, when they do see them, it’s pretty exciting and fast paced.

Leesa is from the Fort Wayne area and grew up on Pretty Lake (sort of), as her family spent their summer vacations at the old Redwood Inn, a four unit rental that has since been replaced by homes. As a young girl and into her late teens, for a week every summer Leesa’s family would occupy one of the units while the other three were rented by cousins and close family friends…it was magical. Swimming across the lake to the old Merkling’s Beach to rent toboggans for the giant slide was a daily highlight. Aaaahhhhh…the memories… Leesa says, “You can take the girl away from Pretty Lake but you can’t take Pretty Lake away from the girl”. With that sentiment in mind, on September 13, 2002 Dave & Leesa bought their cottage, which they named “The Summer Kitchen”. Leesa loves to cook, entertain friends and family, and grow herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers.  In addition to spending time with family, some of her other favorite pastimes are photography & scrapbooking, making jewelry, writing short stories for the grandkids, and the company of her two little sisters, who she is matched with through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization.  Rose has been her little sister for nearly 9 years and Lindsay has been her new little sister for about 9 months (as of this post date).  As you can imagine, they also love the lake!

Dave is originally from Indianapolis and has lived in the Fort Wayne area for 34 years. He is an investment advisor and owner of David R. Kern Asset Management, a company which focuses on active management of client accounts using alternative strategies to help investors reach their retirement goals.  When he isn’t focused on designing investment models, Dave enjoys being active. He is an avid racquetball player and he participated in the Indianapolis 5K mini marathon this past summer.  And in the past, he also finished the Race to Wrigley 5K in Chicago. In addition to family events, Dave also enjoys photography, bird watching, reading, gardening, old cars, museums, and airplanes.

Dave & Leesa agree…”Spending time at the lake is the best part of the week. We get to get away, relax, enjoy each other, and do one of our favorite activities, spend time on the pontoon”.

So if you see Dave and Leesa walking around the lake, floating on the pontoon, picking tomatoes, or relaxing on the deck, take a minute to stop, introduce yourself, and say hi.