John Patrick O'Leary

John Patrick O'Leary May 9, 1919 to July 12, 2018
Born on May 9, 1919 in the shortgrass prairie, on a farm near Claybank, Saskatchewan, and died on July 12, 2018 in his hundredth year, John Patrick O'Leary lived a full and remarkable life.
As the third child and first son in a family of nine children, John learned to love spending time with children. He reminisced often about his happy early life on the farm, going to school in a two-room schoolhouse, teaching his brother to ride a horse or bringing in the cows from the dirt hills.
John was ten years old when the depression hit, and drought slowly turned the prairies into a dust bowl. When he spoke about the drought, he expressed gratitude for the generosity of other Canadians, who sent huge wheels of cheese from Quebec, fish from the coasts, and other produce that fed the suddenly hungry farm families of southern Saskatchewan. As a young teenager in the summertime, he rode boxcars from town to town offering his services as a hand thresher to make money for the family. In a case of art imitating life, some of his exploits were incorporated into a 1998 play called "Hallelujah, I'm a bum!", in which he played the role of Zeke, a hobo, with gusto. On one memorable, real-life occasion, Tommy Douglas picked him up while hitchhiking. After dropping him off, Douglas went on to preach to the local farmers from a manure wagon, commenting that the smell reminded him of Ottawa.
John's lifelong love of learning, development and achievement was fostered at Notre Dame (Luctor et Emergo) in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, where he had the great privilege of studying the classics under Father Athol Murray from 1938 to 1941.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, on July 16, 1941. He wanted to be a pilot but did not make sufficient progress and was trained as a navigator instead. John was assigned to the ‘Ghost Squadron', Squadron 428 (Usque ad Finem) based in Yorkshire. He survived many missions (208.5 hours daytime; 222.45 hours nighttime), before his Halifax Bomber DK257 was shot down 75 years ago over Holland on July 13, 1943. Luckily, he parachuted safely to the ground. He was reported killed in action and as a result, the Nazis never bothered looking for him. Making hay while the sun shone, he evaded enemy forces by staying away from cities and stealing food from farms. In the countryside, he met a brave Dutch family that hid him from the Nazis, and connected him to the Comet Line through which he reached Gibraltar in October, 1943. He became a member of the Escaping Society. He was forever grateful to all the supporters and members of the resistance who helped him and other allied troops during the war. He joined the Regina Rifle Regiment after the war.
He married Blanche Aurore Roy of Lac Vert, Saskatchewan on June 26, 1948. Their children were Denyse Ileen O'Leary; Judith Marie O'Leary; and, Timothy John O'Leary. John worked for Revenue Canada as an assessor and auditor, becoming a Chartered Accountant in 1962 and a life member in 2000. Over the course of his career, he was posted to Regina, Saskatchewan; Whitehorse, Yukon (a lot of time was spent reading classic poetry en famille in Whitehorse!); London, Ontario; and Toronto, Ontario. Driving the family from Whitehorse to London in 1964 was particularly memorable, as was the family trip to Expo '67 more than 50 years ago. John passed on his love of learning to his family and was always proud of all of their accomplishments.
A small town boy at heart, but by now firmly rooted in Ontario, John retired to the Hastings County area where his grandfather, Michael O'Leary, had been a farmer. He ran a small, country accounting practice, which involved much pro bono work, until he was in his 80s. He spent much quality time with his family.
Among other organizations, he was a member of the Rotary Club, the Masonic Lodge, the United Church and the Legion. Among many other volunteer activities, he served as Treasurer of the Peterborough Presbytery Bay of Quinte Conference of the United Church of Canada from 1994 to 2001. He loved people, ideas, books, ballroom dancing, playing euchre, interesting discussions, romantic and epic poetry, woodworking, and many, many other pursuits. He never stopped learning and developing or encouraging others, especially children, to challenge themselves and make the most out of life. He absorbed and communicated Father Athol Murray's lesson that every human life is insignificant until you make yourself great, and its corollary that everyone has the ability to make a meaningful contribution.
He met Theresa Dafoe of Havelock, Ontario, on a square-dancing tour. They were married (at the end of the tax year!) on December 31, 1982 and were parted only by Theresa's death on March 20, 2014. The opportunity to extend his family brought him great pride and joy.
John, Dad, Grandpa will be missed by many, including his surviving siblings, Dennis and Dolores O'Leary; his children Denyse, Judith (Mike Laven) and Timothy O'Leary; his son-in-law, Wayne Ellis (Carol Ellis); his grandchildren, Sheila Handler (William Bradfield-Smith), Cynthia Handler (Lawrence Ko), Crystal O'Leary, Heather O'Leary, Ryan O'Leary, Mike Ellis (and Heather Ellis), Kathryn Ellis (Matt Woodward); and great-grandchildren Sarah Handler, Claire Handler, Liam Ko, Caleb Ko, Haiden Woodward, Mason Woodward, Tenley Ellis and Rylen Ellis.
Despite the several masses previously held in relation to his greatly exaggerated death in 1943, a funeral will be held for him on Monday, July 16, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at Hope Cemetery, 4660 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON. A visitation at Hope Cemetery will commence at 9 a.m. A reception will follow the funeral.
In lieu of flowers John O'Leary would have liked to see people contribute however they can, whether in time, talent or other generosity, to any organization that works to develop human capital, especially of young people, anywhere in the world, for example, the Rotary Club or the Boys and Girls Club.

Burial Date: July 16, 2018