Leo Perk

Leo was one of 10 siblings, growing up on a large farm of about 400 acres. During WWII, he was drafted into the army at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, his division was captured and he spent almost a year in an American P.O.W. camp. After being released, Leo reunited with other family members with help from the Red Cross. While he worked for a few years in Germany after the war doing various jobs, he wanted something different and decided to emigrate to Canada.

In 1953, Leo landed at a pier in Montreal, and made his way to Toronto, working at several different jobs along the way. In Toronto, he met and fell in love with Doris, so he moved to where she was going-Vancouver-and they were married in 1957.

Leo worked at Lawson Oates in Vancouver as a car mechanic and two sons were born to the couple-Eckhard in 1963 and Ron in 1967. He and Doris built their own house there and Leo also realized his dream of owning his own business, opening Perk’s Automotive in Kitsilano. But after visiting a friend in the Kootenays, Leo and his wife fell in love with the area and moved to Gray Creek in 1972, where they purchased their farm, the Golden Pine, and tried their hand at farming, with some woodworking on the side.

Sadly, Doris succumbed to cancer in 1983, and Leo decided to turn a large part of his farmland into a tourist attraction, Black Bear Park, featuring wood carvings by renowned carver, Pete Ryan.

Leo sold Golden Pine in 1989 and returned to the Lower Mainland, where he had the vigor to start building houses in Mission with a business partner. He retired after this building spree, only working part-time for a window company, and settled in Abbotsford. He lived in his home on Bedford Place until the age of 92.

Leo was not a church-going man, but when asked if he trusted Jesus as his saviour, he would answer, “Who else have we got?” Indeed.

He is survived by 2 sisters in Germany, his children Eckhard (married to Gisela) and Ron (married to Tanya), and his 4 grandchildren: Lukas, Emily, Hailey, and Brendan.