Rochester Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Leo Moskowitz was perhaps the most talented athlete ever to come out of the Rochester Jewish Community. It’s hard to believe but Leo excelled in six sports. They where football, basketball, tennis, track, boxing and golf. In football he played quarterback and running back for East High, then went on to play quarterback for Michigan State University prior to Word War I. In basketball, he was the leading scorer for East and went on to star for the Spartans.

In tennis, he played No.1 for the Orientals and was the captain of the Spartan’s tennis squad at age 19, then the youngest captain of any team sport in the Big Ten. After graduating college he returned to Rochester and won several tennis championships. As a track and field athlete, he competed in the dashes and won the city high school pole vault title while at East High. As a boxer, he fought in the amateur ranks, then later refereed bouts. In golf, he won a number of city championships and later teamed up with Gene Sarazan and went barnstorming across the country as playing partners.

An enlisted man in World War 1, he he was gassed in that conflict and lost the use of one lung. Still he remained a top flight athlete in both the 1920s and 1930s.

He carved out a career as a social worker for New York State and following his retirement, he went to work for Wollensak Optical Co. during World War II. His niece, Nancy Wachs of Rochester, vividly remembers her uncle as a sharp dresser, a friend who helped people compile their tax returns and was married to the former Lillian Bagley Moskowitz. They raised on son, Tim, who lives in San Francisco. Leo passed on in 1985 nearing 90.