Gereau was a four-year player at the varsity level in basketball and a three-year player in baseball during the early resurgence of athletics in the mid-to late 1950’s. As a starting player for both squads, Gereau served as co-captain of the basketball team in his senior season.
Accounts from the school newspaper described Gereau as someone who had a dangerous one-hand set shot and was a respected defensive player. The team won 70 percent of their games during his tenure, and he finished his career with more than 700 points including 248 during his final season of 1958-59.
In the sport of baseball, Gereau was a center fielder and clean-up hitter finishing his three-year career with a batting average of better than .370. As a freshman, he hit .429 while leading the Red Dragons in runs batted in. Gereau did play semi-pro baseball after his graduation.
After graduating from Oneonta Gereau began his career in education as a high school American history and sociology teacher for the New Rochelle and Nanuet school systems. He served as a high school principal and superintendent of schools for the Hadley-Luzerne public schools before serving as the coordinator of District Superintendents and school improvement program at the New York State Department of Education from 1978 to 1984. Gereau completed his professional life serving his final 18 years as Division Superintendent in the Franklin County Public Schools, in Virginia until retiring in 2002. Along the way, he completed advanced graduate work at Columbia University and at the University of Arizona earning a Master of Arts degree from Seton Hall University in 1968.
The recipient of numerous honors and awards for his service to education and multiple civic entities, Gereau’s crowning honor came upon his retirement when the Franklin County Schools put his name on “The Leonard A. Gereau Center for Applied Technology and Career Exploration” in Rocky Mount, VA which opened in 1997.
In retirement, he returned to his Adirondack roots by publishing a history of his hometown entitled
Tahawus Memories 1941-1963: The Story of a Unique Adirondack Hometown which includes references to time at Oneonta. The proceeds of his book have supported legacy scholarships for college students. Sara LaPell, Oneonta class of 2018, was a recipient. Thirty-five scholarships have been awarded to date.
Link To Podcast Interview
Link to Personal Reflection
