Gilbert Pep Arthur LeBlanc

Surrounded by family and fellow colleagues, Dr. Gilbert Arthur LeBlanc passed away peacefully on July 20, 2011 at the Veterans Home in Yountville, CA, where he had served as physician and surgeon for 20 years.

Dr. LeBlanc was the eldest son of Arthur E. LeBlanc and Regina L. Pelletier of Worcester, MA. Born and raised in the French Canadian quarter of the city, he was a member of St. Joseph’s Parish and won a full academic scholarship to Assumption Prep and then to Assumption College in Massachusetts. He entered Georgetown Medical School in Washington DC, graduating in 1954. That same year he married Helene M. Kennedy of Washington DC and entered the US Navy Medical Corps. He served his residency at the US Naval Hospital in St. Albans, NY. He then served as Chief of Service in Urology at the Newport Naval Hospital in Rhode Island where he established a urology training program. In 1963 he was promoted to the rank of Captain and transferred to the US Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan as Chief of Service in Urology. He also practiced medicine at the Bluff Hospital in Yokohama, the Tokyo Medical Clinic, and organized a mobile field hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam. Dr. LeBlanc’s last duty station was at Oaknoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, where he retired from the military in 1977. That same year he accepted the position as Urologist at the Veterans Home and Hospital in Yountville, CA.

In 1978 he pursued a second career in the wine industry as a grape grower at his ranch and vineyards in St. Helena, CA. He retired from medicine in 1997 and spent the next several years at his ranch -- fixing fences, repairing farm equipment, and sometimes just sitting on the front porch at the end of the day with a deep sigh and a glass of zinfandel.

Dr. LeBlanc was a member of the American Medical Association, American College of Urology, American College of Surgeons, College of Pediatric Urology, and the Napa County Farm Bureau.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Helene LeBlanc of St. Helena; his sister Lucille Jarvis of Worcester, MA; his children and their spouses: CAPT. Stephen and Cynthia LeBlanc, Hubert and Michele (LeBlanc) Verdeille, Christopher G. LeBlanc, Donald and Dominique (LeBlanc) Sayer; his grandchildren: Adam and Melissa (LeBlanc) Fenswick, Stephen, Rebecca, Kyile and Kaitlyn LeBlanc, Nathalie and Remy Verdeille, Alexander and Joshua Sayer; his great-granddaughter, Alexis Fenswick and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Rosary service will be held at the St. Helena Catholic Church on Thursday, August 4th at 6 PM. A military interment will be held at the Veterans Memorial Grove Cemetery in Yountville on Friday, August 5th at 10am, followed by a Memorial Mass at the St. Helena Catholic Church at 11am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Veterans Home of California: 100 California Drive, Yountville, CA 94599; The St. Helena Catholic Church: (707) 963-1228, or to Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate.

Arrangements under the direction of Morrison Funeral Chapel, St. Helena, CA.