AA founder's 'friend' dies at 72

EAST DORSET — The man who was the driving force behind the restoration of the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill W. died Monday morning after a battle with cancer.

Albert "Ozzie" Lepper Jr., 72, began renovating the Wilson House in October 1987, when he moved to East Dorset from Connecticut.

Lepper was a longtime "Friend of Bill W.," or member of AA, according to his funeral notice.

AA is a 12-step program founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, by Bill W. and his colleague, Dr. Bob, a native of St. Johnsbury, to assist people struggling to recover from addiction to alcohol. The success of its program has been copied by virtually all other programs that battle addictions, from overeating to gambling.

AA has an international membership that numbers more than 2 million, according to its Web site. Sobriety is sought through sharing experiences at meetings, where the identity of those present is protected to allow them the freedom to speak, according to AA's Web site.

The Wilson House, originally built in 1852 as a hotel, had been closed since the early 1970s, until Lepper and his wife Bonnie reopened it in 1989.

Although AA meetings are regularly held there, the House remains an inn that caters to all manner of tourists, said Katharina S. Lepper-Businger, one of Lepper's daughters.

"He never saw himself as a manager," she said. "He just tried to make sure the house honored the memory of Bill W. and his wife, Lois."

The Wilson House Restoration is a nonprofit foundation and Lepper was a member of its board of directors, she said.

Lepper was a warm, open and friendly man, said an AA member from Manchester who requested anonymity.

"One of the things he did very well was to involve local people in a positive and friendly way in the restoration," he said.

Since its reopening in 1989, the Wilson House has offered space not only for AA meetings, but other spinoff groups such as Al-Anon, which focuses on the impact alcohol has on spouses and friends of alcoholics.

"The Wilson house is a vibrant part of the community and Ozzie and his wife have done wonders for it; they've been really dynamic," said Tim Burke, a neighbor and Dorset selectman. "It's a big loss to the community of East Dorset."

Lepper was born in Wethersfield, Conn., in 1933 and graduated from Nichols College in Massachusetts. His wife, Bonnie Lepper, seven children and nine grandchildren survive him.

Visiting hours will be held at the Brewster Funeral Home in Manchester on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. The funeral service will follow on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the First Congregational Church of East Dorset.

I got there and it was a bunch of weird hippies who started the meeting by chanting and lighting candles and incense. Then they started talking about their Tarot cards and a bunch of crap like that. I stayed as long as I could stand it and then left. Someone came outside and asked me if I liked it, and I said no that I was looking for an AA meeting. They said that it was an AA meeting, I told them that I had been to meetings in over 30 states and that I was absolutely certain that what they were having was not an AA meeting.

I've been to an AA meeting. AA meetings are friends of mine. And that, sir, was no AA meeting.

DOS: 9/10/70

I'm assuming that DOS is date of sobriety?

First let me give congratulations to all of you who are overcomming this addiction. I have great respect for you all.

A couple of questions for everyone. Since you've been sober so long do you still attend meetings and how often? I know that there is a genetic component to alcoholism (Which fortunately I don't have - college would have killed me) but does the desire to drink fade with time? That is, I know that you know that you cannot drink, but does it get easier to not drink as time goes on?

How long did it take you from your first meeting to getting sober? Are relapses common in the beginning?

My maternal grandfather was alcoholic but I was too young at the time to understand what was going on. Just trying to educate myself (and perhaps gain a little insight on how to help/support others I may run into)

Thanks!

Many thanks for your kind words about those of us who have been given (and earned) the gift of sobriety. And yes, I did use 'DOS' as shorthand for date of sobriety.

You asked excellent questions. I'll try to answer them succinctly. It's always a good idea for alcoholics to attend 12-Step meetings. That has nothing to do with ones length of sobriety. No matter what, each one of us is only one drink away from a drunk and that never changes. In other words, we don't graduate from AA. Nor do we stop being alcoholic just because we've stopped drinking. There isn't a cure for alcoholism. But there are terrific ways to get it into remission and keep it there.

At the risk of sounding far more noble than I am, there's also another reason. There isn't a chance I'd be sober today had it not been for the countless, happening, smart, sober alcoholics who have helped me throughout the years. Going to meetings and talking w/ newcomers gives me the opportunity to try to "give back all that was given to me." That's reason enuf to attend meetings, wouldn't you agree?

And believe it or not, there are times when AA meetings are an enormous amount of fun. If you don't believe me, walk past a meeting some time and see if you don't hear laughter. There's a special kind of joy that comes with finding happiness and freedom from addiction in sobriety. I know, because I have the good fortune to live with it.

I don't attend as many meetings as I once did, but I'm always the better for it when I do. Once sober, I discovered I'm not just an alcoholic. I also had/have living problems, character defects, and can easily revert to negativity if I don't keep my program in shape. Meetings aren't just about keeping me/us out of bars and liquor stores, by the way. They're also about learning a new way of life that will allow us to live happy, successful lives free of alcohol.

Now for the best part. I have not had one single drop of alcohol since the day I attended my first meeting. There were certainly times when I wanted to drink, especially in my first year. Sometimes, the best I could do was get in my car and drive until it was time for a meeting. Never thought I'd make it long term, etc., and yet here I am. That has very little to do with me, and everything to do with the fabulous group of people who helped me. For once in my life, I was willing to take direction from other people. I frequently disliked and/or resented what I was told but let's face it, it worked.

My desire to drink left me sometime after I completed my first year of sobriety. Which is some kind of miracle of and by itself. I never thought THAT would happen. I honestly haven't wanted a drink since. On occasion, I attend business functions or parties where others are drinking, yet it doesn't phase me. Amazing, isn't it. Somewhere along the line I was told that whatever's in other people's glasses is none of my business. I leave it at that and it works like a charm.

Hope all this helps. Sorry about blowing the "succinct" part. Should have known my enthusiasm for sobriety would inspire me to go on and on. Just want you to know there IS life after sobriety. And it's a darn good one.

There isn't a chance I'd be sober today had it not been for the countless, happening, smart, sober alcoholics who have helped me throughout the years. Going to meetings and talking w/ newcomers gives me the opportunity to try to "give back all that was given to me." That's reason enuf to attend meetings, wouldn't you agree?

So the community and the mutual support from it is a major part of the program's success? It's good to have a support network in any endeavor. Seems like it's essential in this one.

On a tangential note. The bible commands us to confess our faults one to another. A sin confessed seems to a large part to lose it's power. It seems far easier to restrain oneself from recommitting the same act once people know you struggle with that. Same principle seems to works in AA?

My desire to drink left me sometime after I completed my first year of sobriety. Which is some kind of miracle of and by itself. I never thought THAT would happen. I honestly haven't wanted a drink since. On occasion, I attend business functions or parties where others are drinking, yet it doesn't phase me. Amazing, isn't it.

My father-in-law was an alcoholic. To the best of my knowledge he received a complete deliverance from it when he got saved. Jesus in, alcohol out. Again, a strong support network around him had to have helped. He's been sober for at least 25 years or so. He relates the same thing you tell me, he goes to company picnics/parties etc and other's drinking really doesn't bother him (beyond the religious "thou shalt not drink" aspect of it in these parts)

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