Peter Leroy Colombo - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Peter Leroy Colombo was truly remarkable Texan.

A timeline history of LeRoy Colombo:

1912 - At the age of seven, LeRoy Columbo suffered an attack of spinal meningitis which cost him his hearing and the use of both legs. He tried swimming (and his three brothers worked with him) and within a year he was able to walk again.

He eventually became the first deaf lifeguard as well as earning the title “the World’s Greatest Lifeguard.” He saved 907 lives in a 40 year career, a record noted in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 1923 he became the first deaf person to join Galveston’s elite “Surf Toboggan Club.” He qualified by swimming continuously for three hours with no stops or floating. And in 1923 he became a lifeguard for the city of Galveston.

He was among the first to ride surfboards at Galveston beaches.

In 1927, Colombo completed a 15-mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico in just 11-and-a-half hours.

In 1928 he rescued two crewmen after a tugboat exploded in flames (this required swimming beneath burning oil).

LeRoy made his first rescue (of a drowning boy) at the age of 12.

LeRoy almost drowned 16 times during rescues.

He became a competitive swimmer at Texas School for the Deaf, setting multiple records for speed and distance.

He retired at 62 and continued to swim in the ocean daily until he died on July 12, 1974. Flags in Texas were flown at half staff upon his death and a plaque erected on the Galveston beach he patrolled for forty years.

The Noon Optimist Club and the city of Galveston erected a plaque in Colombo’s honor not long after his death in 1974.

In 2005, the legendary Galveston lifeguard will be the subject of a display in a surf museum to open in Corpus Christi.

The beach patrol’s annual fund-raiser, a 5K run, bears Colombo’s name.

In 2006, the Texas School for the Deaf unveiled a new swimming center, which was named for Colombo.

In May 2008, the Rosenberg Library will exhibit a championship trophy won by LeRoy Colombo in 1927.

The street will be referred to as Leroy Colombo’s View and 57th Street on signs.

Source: (visit link)

Marker Number: 15133 Marker Text: (December 23, 1905 -July 12, 1974) Born in Galveston, Peter Leroy Colombo overcame disabilities to become a highly accomplished lifeguard. Born in 1905, Colombo lost his hearing, speech and use of his legs at the age of seven, due to meningitis. His brothers took him to the Texas coast where he swam, regaining use of his legs, though his hearing never returned. In 1915, Colombo began to attend the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, where he learned to read lips and communicate in sign language, and where he also continued to train in swimming. He returned to Galveston in 1921 and soon joined the Surf Toboggan Club, a group of volunteer lifeguards. Colombo became a hired lifeguard at the age of 18. In a time of segregation, he would go on to save hundreds from drowning, regardless of race, over a career spanning approximately 50 years. In addition, Colombo set many endurance and speed records in swimming matches, often participating in races that were up to 30 miles long. He was also a pioneer surfer on the Galveston beaches. Colombo officially retired in 1967, but continued to swim and serve as a lifguard when he was able. When Peter Leroy Colombo died in 1974, he was recognized with a moment of silence by the Texas State Legislature. He had officially saved over 900 people from drowning, with many other rescues going unrecorded. In 2005, the natatorium at the Texas School for the Deaf was named in his honor. Today, Peter Leroy Colombo is remembered as an individual who did not allow disabilities to limit him, risking his life to rescue hundreds along the beaches of Galveston. (2008) Marker is Property of the State of Texas

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