b"RONALD LEITZEL & TONIA LEITZEL ULSHBack then, it wasnt just a jewelry store, selling items like lampsThe Leitzel family and luggage alongside engagement rings and watches.put everything on I was working in the back as a young teenager, Ron recalls. Ithe line to purchase still have my first pay stub from age 16; it was $2.65. That was howMountz Jewelers, much I got paid that week.offering up the familys After high school, Ron attended Bowman Technical School inhouse and business as Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to become a certified watchmaker.collateral for the loan. In 1970, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and transferred to theSomehow I got the National Guard, serving for six years. responsibility of paying By 1967, Marvin had bought the family business from his brotherthe bill for the loan, Charles and asked Ron if he was interested in joining him. Ron agreed.jokes Ron.Ron and Tonia's father, Marvin Leitzel, who joined his brother, Meanwhile, Tonia, the younger sibling by 18 years, found herselfBy the mid-1980s,Charles Leitzel Jr., to bring the family into the jewelry businessworking for the family business practically from the moment sheRon had bought out his was born.parents and was the sole owner of Mountz Jewelers. I grew up making bows in our living room, tagging jewelry at ourHe never changed the name because the Mountz family had a good kitchen counter, Tonia says. reputation in the small town of As jewelers in a small communityCarlisle, and Ron isnt the type of in Central Pennsylvania, the LeitzelWhatever it takes to get the job done,person who needs to see his name in family knew the Mountz family.you dont think about being on the clock,big letters on the front of a building.So it wasnt a surprise that whenOnce Ron opened a second Vaughn and Jackie Mountz wereyou dont think about a work schedule,Mountz Jewelers store in Camp ready to sell their business, they of- you never ask an employee to do some- Hill and a third in Colonial Park/fered Mountz Jewelers to the Leit- Harrisburg, the decision to keep zels, as the couple had no childrenthing you wouldnt do or havent donethe name was solidified. He to take over their family business.yourself. You have to lead by example. thought, why change it now?My dad and I were working atDuring all this, Tonia was grow-the Leitzel store building shelves Ron Leitzel,Mountz Jewelersing up and still working with the on Labor Day [in 1979], Ronfamily at Leitzels Jewelry and Gifts recalls. He told me that Vaughnand then Mountz Jewelers. called him that day and I was beside myself. When it came time to go to college, she majored in business and Mom and dad owned the store by Oct. 1, about 30 days later.marketing, and planned on becoming an attorney, but she changed Thats when I went to work at Mountz Jewelers as the manager.course when she saw the growth her brother created with the expan-sion of Mountz Jewelers.The timing was perfect, explains Tonia. She had looked into attending the Gemological Institute of America to earn her G.G. diploma before, but there was always a waiting list to enroll.Luckily, GIA had just begun offering its one and only course of night classes, giving Tonia the opportu-nity to become a G.G.I was 20 years old. I finished [my second] semes-ter [of college], moved to Santa Monica, and went to GIA, Tonia says.Once she graduated, she started as a sales associate and appraiser for her brother at Mountz Jewelers, climbing her way up the ranks until 1999 when she became co-owner of the business. It was very good for me that my father knew my commitment level at that point, so that when he passed, he knew that I also wanted to be part of the business that he had started, Tonia says.At the time my husband also worked in the busi-ness, and it was the year our first child was born. So, there were a lot of changes happening at that time. Continued on page 3028 RETAILER HALL OF FAME 2024"