Lefko, Orville B., 1922-

Orville B. Lefko was born on October 3, 1922 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1942 with a B.A. in Economics. He entered the U.S. Navy Japanese Language School at the University of Colorado and graduated on July 10, 1943. After receiving instruction in naval intelligence, Lefko was assigned to JICPOA in Pearl Harbor where he translated Japanese war documents and interviewed Japanese prisoners. In his free time, he organized a country & western band and entertained at the Officers Club and at enlisted dances in Hawaii. The band dispersed when Lefko was assigned to the 5th Amphibious Corps. In 1945, Lefko landed on Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division. He performed reconnaissance on recent battle areas and searched caves for Japanese soldiers and documents. Lefko was later order to the Navy Technical Mission to Japan to serve as an interpreter for groups of Navy personnel investigating the Japanese military effort. Lefko located the place of manufacture of the Japanese suicide miniature submarines and found several Japanese flag-rank officers who had scattered to work in menial occupations to avoid interrogation. Lefko later served with the U.S. Bombing Survey where his duties included interpreting and supervising the translation of newspaper articles pertaining to the atomic bombings published in the Nagasaki Shimbun from August to November 1945. Lefko returned to the University of Michigan to attend the Graduate School of Business Administration. He graduated in 1947 with an MBA in marketing and began working in Texaco's International Marketing Department. From 1951 to 1953, he worked as an auditor with L.R.B. & M., now Price Waterhouse Coopers. In 1951, he was awarded the Seidman Economics Award for his paper on Economics and Public Finance. In 1954 and 1955, Lefko was manager of Marketing Budgets & Sales Forecasting for General Electric. From 1955 to 1968, Lefko has worked as a CPA and business analyst for the Lefko Group. On August 5, 1967, Lefko married Janet Mather and, on August 10, 1969, their daughter Tami was born.