Editor’s note:  This is a feature that ran in the March 2010 issue of ECHO.  As a tribute, we’ve chosen to re-run this feature to accompany Leon’s latest interview.  Echo.

RHS custodian Leon Matthews may seem like a scary man rummaging through grocery store dumpsters for his wolf-dogs, but he’s really just on old-fashioned Rolla guy.

“I used to raise wolf-dogs. They were half wolf and half dog. They liked raw meat and bones, so I would find things in grocery store dumpsters. It’s amazing what food they throw away,” Matthews said.

Matthews has retired from his dumpster diving days, as he now raises rat terriers instead of wolf-dogs.

“I’ve had a lot of good squirrel dogs growing up, and rat terriers and fox terriers were some of the best breeds,” Matthews said.

Matthews raised many types of animals in his youth, a few of which are now illegal to raise.

“I raised red-tailed hawks and stuff like that when I was younger. It’s illegal now, but back when I was a kid growing up in Rolla, nobody said anything about it. When I was a kid, I would find a nest in the woods and get a baby bird and raise it. We raised hawks, crows, owls – everything,” Matthews said.

Matthews, who has been a custodian at RHS since 1999, has family ties to the Rolla area, as his great grandfather came here in the early 1900s. In the 1920s, Matthews’ grandfather opened a broom factory on the corner of what is now highway 63 and Kingshighway. Matthews has witnessed Rolla expand.

“Where Wal-Mart is now used to be a big field. We used to pasture our horses in that field for two dollars a head per month,” Matthews said.

Matthews has also witnessed many changes at RHS, one such being a new principal.

“When Mr. Hoven started here, the first thing I did when I saw him coming down the hall was to shake his hand and say: ‘I want you to know I’m the craziest custodian here.’ He laughed and said: ‘that is good to know.’ I don’t know what kind of an impression I put on him,” Matthews said.

Matthews has also observed a shift in environmental consciousness over the years.

“We used to use chemicals you wouldn’t even want in your house. It was hazardous stuff and we used it constantly. All that has changed now for the better.”

Matthews lives in the house his father originally built two blocks from Wal-Mart in 1950. Matthews attended RHS for two years until his father suddenly had a nervous break down and “blacked out.”

“I had to drop out of school and stay home to take care of my mom,” Matthews said.

After two to three years in the hospital and 13 shock treatments, Matthews’ father came out of his “black out.”

“He was just like he was before,” Matthews said.

Matthews a self-proclaimed “nature guy,” prefers simple living and self-sufficiency.

“I still live in the old ways. I like the old style. Technology and things like that doesn’t interest me all that much. If the electric goes out, I can survive for quite a while, which I did when the big ice storm hit. We had water, heat and we did fine. Now, a lot of families don’t even cook at home. When I grew up, my mom always cooked meals. We didn’t have fast-food places. If some people couldn’t get to McDonalds or wherever, they’d probably starve.” Matthews said.

To Matthews, Rolla is the place to be.

“I have a lot of family roots here. My whole family was raised in Rolla. This is it; this is home.”