Leo Chester White

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Leo Chester White in Gibsons, BC.  He was a very dedicated and loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, son, brother and uncle. 

Leo is survived by his loving wife Gail; his Children, Steven (Cheryl), Linnea (Blair), Anita (Brian), Julie (Bobby), Debbie (Billy), and Marcie (Kenny); his Grandchildren, Cara (Michael), Jeffrey(Chantel) Scott (Clare) Brendan, Kyla, Cory, Ryan, Austin (Avery )Cameron, Brandon and Nathan; his Great-Grandchildren, Monias, Tatum, Akira, Grace, Hudzon, Emily, Kielan and Wyatt; as well as his brothers, Gary, Willy and Ralph.

Leo is predeceased by his first wife Shirley; his daughter Dawn, his parents Bernice, Clifford, Gilbert and his brothers Melvin, Ronald and sister Donna.

Leo was born to Clifford and Bernice White who had 3 sons together.  Bernice remarried to Gilbert Stensaker after Clifford was tragically killed in a logging accident and they subsequently had four more children to round out the family.  Leo started work with Nabob/Dickson’s Coffee at the age of 19 and worked there for 37 years.  

On June 4, 1955 Leo and Shirley Bourne were married and lived happily with their family in Burnaby until making the decision to move to Gibsons for retirement in 1990.  His beloved Shirley passed away in May of 1995 after a long illness.

Leo later met his loving wife Gail and they were married August 19, 2000.  Throughout their 25-year relationship they have shared many fun adventures together.  Numerous vacations were shared with Leo’s best friends, Bill and Heather James and great memories were made there and during all their other vacations, family visits and adventures. Dancing was always one of their favourite activities. They made a great team and she will miss him tremendously. 

Leo was a very avid fisherman and loved to be out on the ocean whenever he could. He did many long hikes with his brother Gary like the West Coast trail and paddled the Bowron Lake chain along with many more adventures with friends and family.   During and prior to Leo’s retirement he served for many years as a Power Squadron leader, member of the provincial Emergency Support Services, Coast Guard Coxswain for search and rescue in the Gibsons area and later worked as a guard with the RCMP.  In retirement he was also a volunteer at Christenson Village seniors home and as an ambassador with BC Ferries.  Leo was always there to offer friendly words and to help whoever needed it.  Leo discovered the joy of painting and later attended an art group every Wednesday during retirement.  Many of those paintings are on the walls of his family’s homes.

The Family would like to thank the Nurses and Staff at Shorncliffe for taking great care of Leo. They all enjoyed his stories and his great sense of humour.

Leo will be greatly missed by all that knew and loved him.

A celebration of life will be held in the future, detail to follow

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Leo Chester White, please visit our floral store.