By Deborah Larsen
Leonard Earl Bebout
Leonard Earl Bebout was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on September 27, 1914, the son of Ethelbert and Grace Holmes Bebout. Leonard grew up in Rochester and attended Rochester schools. Before the war, he worked at Yellow Truck & Coach in Pontiac.
In February 1944, Leonard entered the U.S. Army. He was trained as a cook and served in that capacity at Fort Riley, Kansas. He was discharged from military service in October 1945.
After the war, Leonard bought out his brother Harold’s business, Bebout’s Restaurant on Main Street in Rochester. Leonard operated Bebout’s until 1967, when he retired and moved to northern Michigan, telling the Rochester Clarion that he was “just tired of cooking.”
Leonard Earl Bebout died at age 70 on December 15, 1984, and was laid to rest in Montmorency County, Michigan.