Lenny was born December 29, 1944 in National City, CA. He was born to his parents Ramon Montijo and Jesse Mary Gutierrez.
In 1948 Lenny, his brother Ray M. and sister Tillie moved to El Paso, TX where they lived at an orphanage. He remained at the orphanage until he was adopted by Ray and Margaret Camacho in 1950. Although he never lost contact with his birth parents, and 10 brother and sisters, he lived in Montebello, CA with the Camacho family until his teenage years.
His brother Ray M. said “Lenny was always working. He used to sell oranges door-to-door so he could make money.” During his teenage years his foster brother Ray, Jr. (not the same brother in the orphanage) gave him his first job as a painter. Lenny later took over his foster dad’s painting company and it become “Leonard’s Painting” To this day Leonard’s Painting still exists and will likely be taken over by his son-in-law Max.
Lenny graduated Garfield High School in 1963. Soon after he graduated he met his first wife Irene Salcido. Irene said she loved being married to Lenny. He was so much fun and full of life. He wooed her parents with his charm and they loved him immediately. Lenny and Irene married on February 17, 1965. They were married for 14 years.
On January 5, 1966 his first child was born. Debra Montijo. Married life and fatherhood did not slow Lenny down. Irene remembers dancing to all hours of the night. They never sat down not even for a drink. Irene recalls “I was 8 months pregnant with Jeanette and we were out dancing at Gazzarri’s in Hollywood. We danced for so long that I got sick and threw up.” On December 2, 1968 his second child was born. Jeanette Montijo
In 1971 they moved from Montebello to North Whittier. The years in North Whittier were great. Lenny was making lots of moola and was able to provide the very best for his family. He purchased a beautiful home, put in a pool, bought the famous green Stingray Corvette and just lived a great life. Even still, his social life would not fail. Every Friday night was date night. Lenny and Irene would drop off Debbie and Jeanette with their Grandma for the night so they could go dancing, the movies, or whatever else sounded fun! In 1979 Lenny and Irene split up.
Lenny moved to Montebello for a short time and met his second wife Birdie Valdez. They were married in 1982. Lenny and Birdie lived in Alhambra throughout their marriage. On July 12, 1980 Lenny and Birdie had Roxsan Montijo. Roxsan was joined with her sisters Debbie, Jeanette and Monique. Birdie remembers that Lenny loved going to Laguna Beach. Every year they would go and celebrate Roxsan’s birthday. Birdie recalls “Lenny used to tell me to get my jeans on cause were going for a ride. He would take the T-tops off the Corvette and we would go to the Angels game.” Lenny was an Angel’s season-ticket holder for many years. His daughters Jeanette and Roxsan have very fond memories of the Angel games. In 1986 Lenny and Birdie split.
Lenny moved back to Montebello in 1986 where he would stay for the remainder of his life. During this time Lenny took up golf. Golf became his passion. His proudest moment was winning the “low net” at the MAGDA golf tournament in Palm Springs. He won the classic green jacket and his amazing trophy that stands about 3 ft tall. The trophy was so big that he couldn’t fit it into his corvette. Lenny played in the MAGDA tournament every year in Palm Springs and traveled to Mazatlan each year to golf with his buddies.
(Side note: Lenny crashed the green corvette around the late 80’s early 90’s. He then purchased the black corvette that he willed to his oldest grandson Adrian. It will be 4 years before Adrian can legally drive the vette.)
Along with his passion for golf Lenny also had a passion for Steven’s. Lenny was a regular at Steven’s for many years. It was at Steven’s that Lenny met Norma Ruiz. Norma enjoyed dancing with Lenny, dinner dates, Angel games, and going to Palm Springs every year for the MAGDA tournament. Norma stayed with Lenny through the end.
In late August Lenny was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Adenocarcinomas: cancer of the rectum with metastasis on his lungs and his brain. His cancer was so severe that he lived only 3 weeks after his diagnosis. He was brought home from the hospital on Monday, September 11th under hospice care. His daughters Debbie, Jeanette and Roxsan along with his son-in-law Max and his beloved Norma would take shifts caring for Lenny.
Lenny died Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 10:23 p.m. Norma and Jeanette would watch him take his last breath.
