LEITH, JAMES ALEXANDER
Jim passed away peacefully on May 29, 2014 at the age of 91 years. He will be greatly missed and lovingly remembered by Doris, his wife of 68 years; daughters; Dayle (Chuck) Neale, Karen (Bill) Nelson, and Julie Sardinha of Summerland; son, David (Joy) Leith; sister, Jessie (Fred) Jensen; brother, Bill (Marian) Leith; 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Jim was sadly predeceased by his brothers,; David and John; sister, Alice (O’Neill); and son-in-law, Joe (Sardinha). Jim was born on November 6, 1922 in Wycliff, BC and grew up in Kimberly. He attended the University of British Columbia earning his M.A Sc. in Chemical Engineering in 1946. It was while studying at UBC that Jim met his life-long love, Doris, on the MacDonald bus and they were married in 1945. After graduation Jim’s first job was teaching high school math in Oliver, B.C. before beginning work in his field of engineering. In 1958 he began work for Crown Zellerbach, where he worked until his retirement in 1981. Life as an engineer meant many transfers between mills and new towns in which to live. By the time that Jim and Doris sold their house in Camas, Washington and made their final move to Summerland in 1995, Jim and Doris had moved a total of 13 times. Jim will be remembered as a man of great compassion, strength and honour. His greatest loves were family, fishing and gardening (and a rousing game of cards!) – he was especially proud of his tomatoes and roses. After his retirement, Jim and Doris enjoyed annual trips during the winter to Maui and summer vacations in Kimberly, for family get-togethers, fishing and accordion festivals. A celebration of Jim’s life will be held at St Mary’s Lake in Kimberly in early August. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or to the food bank of your choice.
Condolences may be directed to the family through providencefuneralhomes.com