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Allen Leske cuts a branch, preparing to assemble it into a cross. MADELEINE MILLER | DISPATCH RECORD
Allen Leske said he has learned there is goodness in everyone and everything. He makes wooden crosses to remind himself and others that God’s love overcomes despair and decay.
Leske said he has worked as a carpenter his entire life. After serving in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, he learned from friends how to frame houses while living in the Los Angeles area.
He moved with his wife, Melinda, and their children Jennifer, Jason and Jessica to Kempner just over 30 years ago and worked on projects at Fort Hood. The Leskes soon moved into a house on a peaceful property southwest of Lampasas.
In 1999, the couple lost their 17-year-old son in a crash. Jason was riding in a friend’s truck that flipped when the driver lost control after crossing the Lampasas River bridge on FM 580. He died on impact.
“It destroyed me and my wife,” Leske said.
He said he remembers Jason’s friends gathering at the Leskes’ house that night. Their air-conditioner broke, and a man scheduled for heart surgery the next day volunteered to repair it.
“We saw Lampasas, the small town, step up,” Leske said. “But at the end of the day, everyone goes home and goes on with their lives, and our grief goes on.”
The morning of Jason’s funeral, Leske’s mother, who came from California for the funeral, died.
Leske’s devastation sent him into a deep depression, he said, and he worked incessantly as a finishing carpenter in the Lampasas area to assuage his sorrow.
“I tried to work myself to death, but it didn’t work,” he said. “All I did was wear out my body.”
Years later, Leske visited Jason’s grave with a pastor. together,” he said. “There’s more to life.”
Shortly after, Leske used scrap materials from a project to make a wooden cross. He polished one side and left the other unfinished.
Leske said the unfinished side represents man scarred by life and marred by his sins. The polished side represents the beauty with which God endows each man and His offer of a perfect life absolved of sin.
About seven years ago, he and his wife founded 4J Crosses, and Leske began making a variety of designs to sell and donate locally. The business name is a tribute to Jennifer, Jason, Jessica and Jesus, Leske said.
Coming Home Furniture & Gifts sells 4J Crosses products, including crosses modeled after the original, fully finished and painted crosses, and model wooden churches.
Leske sometimes makes larger crosses to donate to local churches and charities.
Leske said he spends a few days completing his crosses. He gathers the wood he uses from dead oak and cedar trees and fallen branches he finds on his property.
He said he surveys his land regularly so he can gather prime wood pieces after they’ve died and before they begin to decay.
Leske scrapes the bark off the branches and uses a belt sander to smooth their surface. He then cuts along one side, leaving a flat surface to be polished.
Leske said it’s exciting to cut open branches and discover the unique pattern of their interior grain.
“You can’t tell from the outside how beautiful the Lord has made everyone and everything until you see the inner side,” Leske said. “Just about everything you cut open — including people — is beautiful inside.”
He then assembles the crosses, sands them by hand and rubs them with oil.
Leske said he feels the presence of his son and of God in his shop and enjoys carrying on the millennia-old tradition of carpentry. He relishes working with his hands, and it has helped him break the chains of depression, he said.
Leske said he misses Jason every day.
“Just seeing a dad and son on TV can make me get choked up,” he said. “But the Lord keeps showing me my blessings and keeps me going until the day He comes and I can hug my son.”
He said he is assured that Jason encouraged many people during his life, and he is proud that his high school friends grew up to be “good and honest.”
For now, Leske said he is honored to share the meaning of the crucifixion in his work.
“Me and my wife will just be happy the best we can,” he said. “We try to treat people right and give them what we can — these crosses — and the rest is up to the Lord.”