Every Mustang home basketball and volleyball game, Leonard Pritikin can be seen front row, in a bright yellow jacket and a veteran cap. He’s a familiar site to student-athletes and this December he’ll be introduced to the entire graduating class, receiving an honorary degree from Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard.
“For so many years, I was kicking myself in the pants and sorry that I never went and got that degree,” said Pritikin, a 96-year-old veteran. “Now I never have to kick myself in the pants anymore thanks to Dr. Shepard and the Board of Regents.”
At the age of 19, Pritikin enlisted into the Marine Corps, joining millions of other young Americans who would take part in the Second World War, missing their opportunity to earn a college degree.
Pritikin served from 1940 to 1945, his military career cut short due to injuries, but not before traveling through Pacific as a section leader of heavy machine guns.
“I drove a jeep patrol and went to the Solomon Islands, Samoa and was in New Zealand for nine months,” said Pritikin.
Born in Chicago in 1920, Pritikin lists his greatest experience as being shot up by his own mortar shells.
“They called it friendly fire but it hurt just as much as if someone else had done it,” said Pritikin. “It was then that I decided that if I was going to killed out here, I better come home.”
Pritikin spent an entire year recovering from at a military hospital in California before he was discharged and even after a near death experience while in active duty, he considers himself luckier than many others.
“When I got hurt that day, six of my comrades died. Every September 20 I have a drink for those six guys,” said Pritikin.
After the war, Pritikin married, had children and became a rotogravure photo engraver. He specialized in recoloring and worked on notable publications including the first issue of Playboy Magazine in 1953.
“What they said at the time was that the only people who were getting paid more per hour than us were diamond cutters,” said Pritikin. “They used to take a picture for the ad and then would give it to the photographers to separate the colors. I had to visualize in all these pictures how much of each color would be in a particular spot.”
After a successful career as a color retoucher, and a 62-year marriage, Pritikin has always had one regret.
“I have been sorry about not getting a degree for so many years,” said Pritikin. “I’m going to put up the certificate and see it every day until the day I die.”
The fall commencement ceremony will take place Friday, December 9 at 3:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Theater on the WNMU campus.