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IN MEMORIAM

Remembering Leon Galitzin, devoted Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival Vice President

Energetic personality was driving force behind fest’s success
June 13, 2017

Leon Galitzin, a driving force in making the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival one of the resort’s top events, died June 11 at the age of 70.

Born in Paris, Galitzin immigrated to America as a child in 1949. He became an American citizen in 1957, and his family settled in Baltimore around that time. He went on to become an international sales executive, later moving to Rehoboth Beach, where he quickly became involved with the nascent Jazz Fest. Galitzin was considered the right hand to jazz festival President Dennis Santangini.

"Leon was like a brother to me,” Santangini said. “We talked every day, mostly about the jazz festival. It helped me tremendously and kept me going."

Santangini said their friendship spans the 18 years they've been involved together in staging Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival.  "He moved to town and wanted to get involved and has been ever since.  This year's ticket sales are going great, and we were already talking about next year's event.
 
"He was dedicated and energetic and happy.  He was always upbeat and happy.  Every time I called and asked him how he was doing he would say, 'I'm terrific, I'm good.'  Even when he had had a stroke and was in the hospital, he said he was terrific and good,” Santangini said. "Leon lived the way he wanted to, and now he's in that great jazz festival in the sky."

Sydney Arzt, one of the festival’s founders, said Galitzin arrived in Rehoboth about five years into the event’s existence. The jazz fest, with its 28th edition in October, was originally conceived to get people to downtown Rehoboth in the fall, Arzt said. Galitzin, who was retired and had time on his hands, volunteered, she said.

Arzt said Galitzin was driven by a love of music, and he put his experience in the private sector to good use.

“He was very outgoing and quite a good salesperson. He expanded the marketing of the jazz festival to cities outside our original demographic,” she said.

Arzt said Galitzin helped market the festival in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and organized music-related cruises.

Friend and fellow Jazz Fest board member Kas Naylor said Galitzin’s death is a profound loss for the festival and for his friends. She said Galitzin’s enthusiasm and love of music helped make the festival what it is today.

Naylor said Galitzin had a personality to match his 6-feet-4-inch, 300-pound size. She said whenever jazz fest rolled around, Galitzin was easy to find in colorful sweaters and he always had something to laugh or joke about. Naylor said Galitzin had visited Rehoboth for many years and loved the city’s small-town charm. He had a son and a daughter and three grandchildren, Naylor said.

“We are really going to miss him on many, many levels,” she said.

Local musician Viki Dee said, “He was the kind of man that lived large and loved life.”

Dee said Galitzin could often be found at Casa DiLeo in Rehoboth, where he would sip on a glass of red wine. She said Galitzin was a big supporter of her and other musicians through the festival, which Dee has played twice in addition to taking part in jam sessions.

“I was honored to take the stage because of Leon,” she said. “I felt like I owed him.”

Dee said Galitzin was a fun-loving guy who took beach living to the fullest. She recalled once seeing him in December walking across a parking lot in his flip-flops. When Dee mentioned that he was wearing flip-flops in the cold, Galizin replied, “Open toes until it snows.”

“And sure enough, you would see him in flip-flops until it snowed,” Dee said.

Editor’s note: The above story originally appeared in the Cape Gazette’s Tuesday, June 13 edition.

Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival Info

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