Ozzie Leaf

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Osbourne Emil Leaf, in Parksville, B.C. on February 11, 2023, surrounded by his caring family. He was a loving husband and father, good friend to many, and lived a busy, engaged life in his hometown of Falkland until the age of 89 when he moved to Parksville. He is survived by his son Scott (Holly), daughter Apryl (Don), grandchildren, Coho, Thomas and Celia, a great-granddaughter, Lotus, and nieces Lorraine Elsom and Sharleen Tulloch, sisters-in-law Sandra and Jo-Ann, brothers-in-law Jack (Barb) and Jimmy (Heather). He is predeceased by his mother, Bertha, sisters May and Freda, and brother Larry.

Ozzie Leaf was born at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, June 21, 1928. He grew up in the nearby town of Falkland, surrounded by its steep, forested mountains, ranches and farms. He began life on a farm in Paxton Valley at Six Mile Creek, then after losing his father at age two, moved with his mom and siblings to a house on Falkland’s Tuktakamin Road. He and his brother and sisters were raised by his widowed mother through the Great Depression years, with a resourceful attitude, some help from family, and a strong work ethic that she passed on to her children. Ozzie remembers as a kid, fishing at the river and gathering wild greens to contribute to the family supper table. He remembers helping Tom Curry take his horse team for water after a day of logging or plowing. He also sold mail-order goods door-to-door when he was 10 and helped a local farmer with harvesting hay in the summer. He then worked after school delivering groceries on his bicycle for the general store in town.

He later delivered telegrams by bike around Falkland from the railway station, telegraph office and home he shared with his stepdad, the stationmaster along with his mother and siblings. He recalled watching for the numbers on the regular trains that passed each day, each of the kids having a favourite engine.

Ozzie enjoyed riding his bike and playing baseball, and skating on the frozen lakes and river in winter. While he was a good student, Ozzie left school at age 14 to begin working fulltime at Ethel and Bill McLounie’s general store. He was able to take in the local culture of town with eagerness and got to know the residents and their families. This was the time when folks would still crowd inside the store on Saturdays to chat or they sat outside on large, upturned cream cans. There was also still a horse hitching-post beside the store, which continued to be used for some time.

In his personal memoirs, he noted working 52-hour weeks at the general store. Despite being busy with work, he became an avid sportsman in the area, fly fishing at the local lakes and creeks with his friends. He played first base for the Falkland Blackjacks baseball team, and then the Falkland Broncs, eventually managing the team, and then serving as president of the North Okanagan Baseball League for eight years.

He courted and married his smart and lovely sweetheart, Donna, in 1961, who worked at McLounies store as well, and they began to raise a family. The couple had two children, Scott and Apryl, and celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2011. Donna passed away in 2013.

Oz and Donna bought and ran the hardware half of the general store in 1968, and it became Leaf's Hardware. They moved the store to a building of their own in 1988 and continued to run it for many years together. They were active in the community, volunteering and enjoyed curling and baseball as well as kicking up their heels at local dances. Ozzie enjoyed the many family gatherings they had at home and at Okanagan Lake. He like playing horseshoes with his friends at the Westwold horseshoe club and Vernon horseshoe club as well. He and Donna enjoyed taking their family on car trips in the area, up to the lakes and to other areas of the province and nearby regions, visiting and exploring. 

Oz was always involved with volunteering in the Falkland community, serving as president of the Falkland Community Association, attending all the monthly meetings, and volunteering at the Falkland curling club, assisting to get a Centennial grant from the government in 1964 to help build the Falkland Curling Club. He joined the many community volunteers in the task of building the two new rinks that are still in use. He and Donna enjoyed participating in the bonspiels hosted in Falkland and with the curling folks from Armstrong.

In addition to being engaged with the community on a daily basis and working in the hardware, Ozzie was dedicated to heading up the volunteer fire department in Falkland for 26 years and shared some hair-raising anecdotes from fires he and the other firemen attended. He also took on a trustee role for the town cemetery, at which his father, Emil was the first person to be interred.

He served many years on the Falkland Stampede Committee and helped to organize and volunteer for any tasks that needed doing at the 103-year-old Pro Rodeo that's held in Falkland for three days, every May long weekend. He looked forward to the stampede as also a time to catch up with old friends and make new ones. He was a volunteer who looked for where help was needed, doing any tasks including selling booster buttons, programs and ice cream in the grandstands, and being a go-fer for the gate and beer gardens workers. He would decorate the town section of Hwy 97 with pennant streamers with help from neighbours and family, and then later, hang the many Canadian flags which were donated. He was thrilled to return to Falkland with his son for the 100th Falkland Stampede in 2018 and visit with friends and family there.

For most of his adult life, Oz also gathered news for and wrote regularly for the local paper, The Falkland News, which he was encouraged to help create at the suggestion of the school principal then, John Weir. He even continued to do so after moving away from Falkland. 

Ozzie was a big fan of old-school Country and Western music, took in radio shows and collected albums, but also adapted to an iPod later for enjoying music outdoors in the yard at home. He was also a fan of the Western Red podcast in later years and would ask his Echo device to play it for him.

He always played country music 8-tracks and cassettes over the PA at the hardware store during the rodeo long weekend, helping give the town a festive western atmosphere. He would announce the stampede parade from the store PA for guests downtown until he moved away to Parksville.

Oz always enjoyed visiting with family, watching baseball, especially the Blue Jays, and Canucks hockey, as well as pro rodeo on tv. He was a people person and enjoyed talking with locals, meeting and extending welcome to new residents and visitors, and talking up the Stampede to whomever he met. He maintained life-long friendships through letters, cards and phone calls when visiting was not possible. Ozzie was interested in people and their stories, and was an avid photographer, often taking slide photos of events and local landmarks, and sharing them with family and the community. 

In his senior years in Falkland, he continued to write and gather stories for the Falkland News, play crib with his senior friends at the Ranch Café and would sometimes organize country music concerts for the town. He continued supporting local businesses, clubs and events and would gather regional advertising to finance the stampede programs and other costs.

After living in his hometown for 89 years, with health challenges and advanced age, he came to live in Parksville at a senior's residence near his son and daughter and their families. He enjoyed regular visits from his family, being taken out for meals, the occasional local music events, the sandy beach and being at family gatherings. He also enjoyed visits with his brother-in-law Jack, whom he would look forward to playing cribbage with every week, even when it was challenging to see the pegboard.

He also liked meeting people from his new home, and he organized crib games for residents and meet-and-greet occasions for his wing of the senior village. He made friends of the care workers and nurses also, becoming dear to many of them.

While living in Parksville Ozzie kept up with his Falkland area connections with sincere effort, calling and receiving calls from friends and family regularly, and keeping his ear to the heartbeat of his hometown. He maintained that being connected to people was one of the keys to having a good life.

He was a big local food fan all his life, praising the deliciousness of fresh Okanagan corn, tomatoes, beets, peaches and cantaloupe that were abundant in the late summer and fall in the area.

He will be missed by many. We wish to thank our friends for their kindness and support during this sad time for us. A celebration of life will be announced in the spring and held in Falkland.