Obituary of Leonard Kenneth Woods

The families of Leonard Woods are deeply saddened to announce Leonard's passing on April 13, 2007 at the age of 87 years. He will be remembered and sadly missed by his children Lorne Woods of Prince Albert, SK, Elaine (Eugene) Germann of Lloydminster, AB, Larry (Lee Ann) Woods of Brooks, AB, his son in-law Jack Baycroft of Martensville, SK, his grandchildren and great grandchildren as well as numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Leonard was predeceased by his wife Irene in 1997, his son Kenneth in 1995, his daughter Lorraine in 2007, his brothers Russell and Bus, and his sisters Evelyn, Elsie and Boo. The funeral service was held on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 2p.m. from the Chitek Lake Community Hall. Rev. Leigh Sinclair was the officiant and the music director was Bill Martodam. The congregational hymns were How Great Thou Art, Old Rugged Cross and Mansion Over The Hill. The solo performed by great grand daughter Josie Baycroft was I Will Remember You. Michael Germann read the eulogy. An honor guard was formed by the Members of the Royal Canadian Legion and honorary pall bearers were all relatives and friends who shared in Leonard's life. The active pall bearers were Leonard's grandsons: Dalton Baycroft Brad Woods, Brett Woods, Leonard Woods, Michael Germann and Rene Gunputrav. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Evergreen Health Care Centre. Leonard was laid to rest in the Peaceful Pines Cemetery. The following is the eulogy read by Michael Germann We are here today to honor and celebrate the life of my Grandpa, Leonard Woods, or to a lot of you here today, "Uncle Leonard". As we pay tribute to his life, I feel Grandpa is smiling today seeing us all together. I can almost hear him saying "you guys didn't have to do all this" and that he would feel embarrassed that everyone come here today for him, for he was only comfortable doing things for others, never wanting anything in return. Grandpa lived life and was passionate about many things, but his greatest love was Irene. Married July 1940, Grandpa was ten months enlisted in the Canadian Army. He would go on to serve admirably in Canada, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe until his discharge in July of 1945, serving over five years after they were married. Grandpa rarely spoke of the war. One can only imagine what he experienced in those five years, all the while rarely seeing Grandma. One story he told me was of when he used to ride a motorcycle as a signaler in the army. He spoke of the times when he would ride ahead of his battalion, find the enemy and signal back the co ordinates. He said there were times when German snipers would spot him and start firing, so he would roll his bike and play dead until they left that position. It is hard for me to imagine how much courage that takes, I find it mind boggling. After the war, soon came a young family. They moved around and lived in various locations while Grandpa worked on the pipeline. In 1966, after years on the road, they finally settled in Lloydminster and he was employed a Husky Oil from 1965 to 1973, then on to Murphy Oil in 1974 until his retirement in 1984. He was regarded as one of the foremost pioneers in the oil industry. In 1979, they bought an acreage just north of the city and moved a house on. They were content there, being as how it was right across the road from Elaine and Eugene and us kids. He built himself a garage and made half of it into a workshop. It was at this time that he became interested in woodworking and it would become one of his passions in life. He would spend hours working in his shop. Whenever you would drive by and smoke was coming out of the chimney, you would know he was hard at it, making something for somebody. Of course the intercom was always on, so he could talk to Grandma. I am sure half of the people here today have something that he made. If you were ever over for a visit, he made sure you never left without something in your hand. In 1984, they packed up and moved back to Chitek, bought a little house and started a new exciting chapter of their lives, retirement. The days were busy, what with quadding, golfing, woodworking and drinking coffee and the local cafe and hanging out with Uncle Buck. They were inseparably in those years and kept busy fooling around on the quads or on the golf course. Thanks to Grandma and Aunty Patsy, they became known as "Pete and Repete". You were his best friend Uncle Buck. If he wasn't with you, he was talking about you or telling us what kind of mischief the two of you had planned for tomorrow. If it wasn't for your friendship I think he would have found retirement a little boring, but with the two of you together, it was anything but. I hope I have a friend like you when I retire. Don't get me wrong, being with the wives is great, but nothing beats hanging out with a good friend and that is what you were. Thank you for being there for him. Grandpa loved to golf. As a teenager, I would spend a couple weeks every summer with Grandma and Grandpa and our days were spent on the golf course. He was a very patient teacher, to say the least and those first few years I probably cost him a small fortune in lost golf balls. Every time I'd go up and try to kill it, and it would fly into the bush, he would just smile, tell me what I was doing wrong, dig into his bag and throw me another ball to lose. Meanwhile he would go up there and hit it and it was the same shot every time...... two hundred yards straight up the fairway. The last few years, we would get pretty competitive with each other and on our final game together, I finally beat him, but I still suspect he let me win. One weekend we entered a tournament together and actually won our division. We came home to Grandma with a couple of small trophies and were acting like we had just won the masters. We sure had a lot of fun, him and me. Grandpa was always out and about doing something, staying busy but what he loved the most was coming home to Grandma. The first thing he did when he came home was to go straight to her for a hug and a kiss. If there were people around, Grandma would get embarrassed and say "Leonard, go away, there is people here". Her cheeks would go red and she would try to deep a straight face, and then he would say "I don't care who is here, I gotta get my kiss!" and Grandma's shoulders would begin to shake trying to hold in her laughter. I seen them do this many times over the years and would look forward to it because it was funny seeing them fooling around like a couple of newlyweds. On November 4, 1997 after 57 years of marriage, his beloved Irene would pass away after a lengthy battle with cancer. During this time, Grandpa would never leave her side. Before her stay at the hospital, I would phone and Grandma would say "Don't worry Mike, Grandpa is taking good care of me". He doted on her and made sure she had everything she needed and more. One weekend I was down to see Grandma and she was trying to get him out of the house with me to do something fun. She finally talked him into it and reluctantly we headed out for a round of golf. It was the fastest game I ever played. I think we were only gone for forty five minutes. He couldn't get home fast enough. In her final days at the hospital, Grandpa would stay at a friend's house in Spiritwood, so he could be close to her, never leaving her bedside, never letting go of her hand. Eventually, she would come to pass and Grandpa was left to carry on with life with a broken heart and an empty spirit. Like any good soldier, he tried to move forward, but the load was too much for him to bear. Things he enjoyed doing before such as his woodworking, would come to an end. He couldn't be in his shop with his intercom knowing she wasn't there for him to talk to. He couldn't enjoy golfing because there would be no one to kiss and hug when he came home. He really did try, but a huge part of Grandpa died along with her. The next couple of years Grandpa spent a lot of his time on the road, visiting. He spent time with Larry and LeeAnn and the kids in Brooks, Lorraine and Jack and the kids in Martensville, Mom, Dad, Jen and I in Lloydminster, Deanna and Rene in Fort McMurray, and Lorne at the house in Chitek. It was hard for all of us to lift his spirits and keep him occupied, but even the love of his family could not fill the void of a life without Grandma and the challenges of life without her. But there wasn't one time when I heard him complain or feel sorry for himself. More always, he didn't want to be a burden and was concerned for everyone than himself. Not long after, Alzheimer's would eventually take hold and we watched helplessly as he slowly slipped away. Mom found a passage; I think best characterizes the effects of this disease. "Losing a loved one to Alzheimer's is a terrible, long drawn out defeat. It is the slow fading away of everything we so loved about you..... Everyday brought with it a part of you we thought we could never live without, and everyday we screamed out for what was left, hoping to hold on, hoping to deep you a little longer." Although the last years of Grandpa's life were difficult, they should by no means overshadow the good times. After this retirement they had well over a decade of loving life and each other. If given the chance, I know he would not have traded those years for anything and we can all take comfort in that. When writing this, I struggled early on and went to Mom for some help. She told me to write about Grandpa the way I perceived him. While struggling to find the right words, I realized there aren't any for I think his legacy can't be described in words rather than in the example that he set. An example of what it means to be a good husband, father, grandfather and so on. Our successes were his successes and his legacy lives within us and our children and I know he will never truly be gone....just missed. I think of the glorious reunion of Grandma and Grandpa together again, an eternity of hugs and kisses.........REST IN PEACE GRANDPA. WE LOVE YOU