|
A Royal Canadian Navy Historical Project
In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
LEACH, Percy Neil - In hospital on Wednesday December 5, 1979. Percy Leach, beloved husband of Joy ( Berry) Leach, of 2688 Violet St., Ottawa, dear father to Edward and Robert Woodruff, of Ottawa, and Wendy ( Mrs. K Vitter) and Edith ( Mrs. D Camm) both of Vancouver, survived by one grandchild. Friends may assemble for a Memorial service on Saturday, December 8, at Christ Church, Richmond Road, Bell’s Corners at 1 p.m. In Memoriam donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated. (The Ottawa Journal 07 Dec 1979)
LEACH, Percy Neil - Percy was born in Chatham, Ontario on August 12, 1923, one of the six children of William and Ellen Leach. In the early 40’s, all four of the boys enlisted in the various branches of the Canadian Armed Forces. Percy decided to join the navy and after initial training in Ontario was stationed at HMCS Cornwallis in Nova Scotia. Here he served as Stoker First Class, and met his first wife, Ruth Shennan, a WREN also from Ontario. They married, and in March 1945 their first daughter, Edith, was born. The war ended, and after being discharged, the young family moved back to Ontario where Percy followed his Navy training as mechanic and machinist in Chatham, then for Keyes Supply in Pembroke where in 1951 their second daughter, Wendy, was born. Soon afterwards, Percy was hired by the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited ( AECL) at their Chalk River Nuclear Research Laboratories and the family moved to Deep River, the residential community for “the Plant” as it was locally known. He worked for AECL as a machinist for many years, then in the mid-60’s moved to Carleton Place, Ontario, to a Quality Control job with Leigh Instruments. He and Ruth divorced in 1975. Percy was an outdoors man. He loved fishing, hunting, boating, and snowmobiling. His knowledge of outdoor sports led him first to a part-time job at a sporting goods store in Deep River, then eventually to a full-time job at Sears in Ottawa where he met his second wife, Joy, who brought him much happiness in the last years of his life. In 1952 while Percy was working in Chalk River, the NRX nuclear reactor suffered a disastrous leak, and many of the workers, Percy included, volunteered to help clean up the heavy water spill in spite of the personal dangers. It is believed that his participation in the cleanup (as well as a lifetime of smoking) contributed to his death at age 56, of throat and lung cancer. Percy was a good man who enjoyed life. He is missed by all his family.
|
For Posterity's Sake 
