THE LAST WORD
All in a Day's Work
By Amy MacMillan

Leon Pendracky, O.D., was out giving his dog some exercise in his yard last September, when his wife, Kathleen, interrupted him to take a phone call. He asked her to take a message, but she implored him to take it immediately. As Pendracky later found out, she knew something he didn't. The 49-year-old Pennsylvania optometrist had just been awarded the 1998 American Worker of the Year Award by the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company, the maker of Dickies work clothes. Kathleen had secretly nominated her husband for the award last summer. "He has driven through backwoods and through streams just to get to patients who can't come to him," Kathleen said at the awards ceremony held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. "He has accepted payment with bags of garden vegetables from people who have no money. He has made sure that poor people get nice frames, even if they can't afford them." Pendracky grew up in the small town of rural Joffre, Pa., where he motivated himself to get an education and eventually worked his way through the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, where he graduated fourth in his class. A modest, soft-spoken man, Pendracky went on to open his own practice just over the border from Pennsylvania in Weirton, W.V. in 1976. He then signed on a high school friend, Dr. Michael Kucher, as a partner in his practice, and the two opened two more offices in Burgettstown, Pa. and Wellsburg, W.V. Two years ago, Pendracky asked Kucher to buy him out, so he could work four days a week instead of five. "My wife and I wanted to get more involved in volunteer work such as soup kitchens and things like that, and this gave me some more freedom to do that," Pendracky explains.

Were you surprised to win this award?

I was really surprised. My first reaction was, 'Why me?'

You didn't have a lot of money growing up. How did that influence who you are today?

I think it had a great impact on me. I was raised mostly by my grandparents. My mother worked, and I never knew my father. But, I had a lot of people throughout the years who guided me . I never even thought I'd be able to go to college, but some doors opened up, and I took full advantage of the situation.

What opportunities would you have had if you hadn't gotten an education?

In my area, the biggest employer was Weirton Steel in Weirton, W.V. If I hadn't gone to school, that would have been my next best wish.

What's it like being a small-town doctor?

I think it's great. You definitely get to know your patients very well. I get to see the children of my friends, and even now, I'm seeing the grandchildren of friends.

You sometimes allow children on public assistance to pick out their own frames, regardless of cost. Why? I see some of these young kids who come in, and I know they don't have a lot. So, I hate for them to get the frames that are set aside for them, because they aren't very fashionable frames. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't want to be wearing them. So I let them pick out frames that they'd much rather wear, and at least I know they'll wear them.

As an optometrist, you've received some unusual forms of payment. Can you tell me about that?

I didn't plan it this way. It just happened. Years ago, when I made home visits, I'd get bags of vegetables freshly picked from gardens. Even today, people bring in canned and baked goods, and I make little adjustments on their accounts.

Do you still make housecalls?

Not as much as I used to. In the early years, yes. There seemed to be a lot more people who had trouble getting down to the offices.

Are economically disadvantaged people better off living in an urban area or in a rural area such as the one you live in?

I'm definitely a country boy. And, to me, to be disadvantaged and grow up in a rural area is much better. You know your neighbors better and they are more will ing to help you out. It seems in the city, you're more dependent on government programs. I remember a statement by Dwight Eisenhower. He said, "I was poor, but I never knew it." That hit home for me.

Are you going to drive the 1998 Chevrolet Silverado that Dickies awarded you?

Yeah, that'll be my vehicle. I'll give my Blazer to my wife. She has a '94 Cavalier, and we're going to give that car to the son of one of her employees, who needs a car for getting back and forth to work. We're trying to spread this all around to make everyone excited.

What do you do in your spare time?

My main hobby is gardening. I built a 16 x 24 foot greenhouse where I raise all my plants and flowers. I'm addicted to planting trees. When we moved here 14 years ago, it was basically a cornfield. I've been averaging about 150 to 200 trees that I plant every year. I love physical labor. I don't go to gyms to work out. I figure I can work out at home, outside.

How do you feel about the Dickies award?

I still wonder why I won. The stuff I was doing--I was doing it for myself . It made me feel good. I didn't tell anybody. In a way, it's nice to be recognized for doing some of these things, but I've been a quiet person my whole life. I do what makes me feel good in my heart. EB