1956 – 2018
Leigh has journeyed on ahead of us – he travels safely in our hearts forever.
If family functions like a mobile, then Leigh surely was – and is – very near the centre of this large Gower/Frain/Stafford -Mayer family mobile that spans continents. The turbulence we feel in his sudden, wrenching passing is profound. Leigh left this life surrounded by family and friends on October 29 at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton following complications from blood clots in the brain. We gather here to celebrate his life and his legacy.
Born in Durban, South Africa, on July 13, 1956, to Moonyeen Stafford-Mayer and Beverly Gower, he was a chubby ginger-haired baby. At age three, he came with his mother to Canada to join his grandparents, Dr. George and Denise Stafford-Mayer, and his Canadian family who had emigrated from South Africa and settled in Alberta two years earlier. Leigh made lifelong friends in Innnisfail where he went to school and where his love of theatre and acting was kindled. He was the Valedictorian of the class of 74 – who just held their 44 reunion this past August which Leigh was able to attend. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta and a degree in law from the University of Saskatchewan. He articled in Yellowknife where he met and married his wife – long-legged, spirited, beautiful Barbara Frain— on July 16, 1988, in a memorable ceremony on the shores of Great Slave Lake as a northern storm was brewing and the neighbouring mine was on fire. We remember the feast of caribou and arctic char, and the raucous wedding bus ferrying guests to the community dance in Yellowknife that remains legendary in our collective memories.
In 1991, Leigh and Barbara relocated with baby Gwendolen to Whitehorse where Leigh practiced mainly criminal law. Soon afterward, son Dylan was born. Leigh loved the North and responded to this fierce, expansive country’s spirit of adventure, community support, and respect for independent thinking and choice. He rode his Harley often, his long red hair flowing; he engaged in local theatre where he played Macbeth, Hamlet and other big roles; he earned a second-degree black belt in karate; he ran and worked out every day; and seized every chance to go downhill skiing, hiking and kayaking, including hiking the Chilkoot Trail with his family and friends.
In 2003, Leigh received a momentous phone call from Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s office, offering him a judgeship in the Yukon Supreme Court. On November 28, 2003, his grandmother’s birthday and wedding anniversary, he was sworn in as a judge in the Whitehorse courthouse with the family ensconced in the jury box. Leigh called this appointment “the miracle of the judgeship,” and his abiding respect for the rule of law is evident in the accolades which have poured in from the legal community after his death.
Leigh was a deeply spiritual man. He meditated and prayed every day, he actively sought out spiritual teachers, and he initiated intimate conversations that reflected his quest for understanding of the challenges, rewards and mysteries of life, death, faith, and the many facets of love.
The miracle of his judgeship gave Leigh the resources to connect and forge meaningful relationships with family all over the world: his father Beverly in South Africa, with whom he ran a marathon in 1997; daughter Gwendolen, her husband Andy and grandchildren Noah, Annalise, Elijah and Claire in Hamilton, Ontario; son Dylan and his girlfriend Candice in Grande Prairie and Kelowna; sisters Sian and Ceri and their families in the UK; Gower siblings Bronwen, Dylan and Joren, their mother Catherine, and their families in Australia; Aunt Marilyx Stafford-Mayer and partner Rob Joseph in Johannesburg and cousins Bambi, Nicolas and Jonathan; sister-in-law Sandra Frain and niece Marisa and her fiance Tyler in Australia; and the extended Stafford-Mayer clan in western Canada. Marilyx, Rodney, Jannie and Sherry Landeen— aunts and uncle on the Stafford Mayer side— consider Leigh their younger brother.
Leigh’s life was a case study in loyalty and commitment. When Gwendolen and Dylan were children, he made sure they had holidays down south and overseas with family. The Gowers also travelled annually to Eastern Canada to visit Barbara’s side of the family: Nana, Grand-Pa, Auntie Sandy, Uncle Doug and the children’s four cousins. In full judge regalia (which Leigh designed himself, with magenta to represent Yukon fireweed and symbolic gold trim), he married Gwendolen and Andy in 2010 as well as his nieces in Alberta – Caitlin to Dan Garcia, and Rhiannon to Will Rutherford. He gave loyal, wise counsel to his children, Dylan and Gwendolen. As much as he could, he made time to be with family for reunions, high days and holidays, even connecting with family in the island of Mauritius, his grandparents’ birthplace. He was a frequent attendee at Sherry’s extended Landeen family annual summer regatta at Jim and Ora Findley’s Sundre home. He and Barb took the family on wonderful trips to Africa, Australia and the Grand Cayman Islands. His motorcycle trips with his Innisfail buddies on the annual “Vitamin B Tour” have become not merely historical, but truly mythological. Tales of these trips rival the spirit of Robert Service, whose poem “The Spell of the Yukon” Leigh would recite on well-oiled evenings under the stars and around campfires.
Like his father, Leigh was dedicated to his Welsh heritage. He wore the Celtic cross proudly, kissing it every time he put it around his neck. He loved the Welsh flag, culture, language and history. He also connected with his grandparents’ French heritage through his disciplined learning of French, a commitment which involved daily study, weekly meetings with a tutor, and participating in two immersion courses annually in Quebec.
Leigh was a dancer. The family has fond memories of his “how low can you go” limbo exploits; his “spaghetti legs” performances on the dancefloor; and his “Gower Shuffle” as the evenings progressed. His niece Jennifer said it best: “Leigh lived life like he danced, leaning low into it and fully committing.”
Leigh and his match and mate, Barbara, have been the catalyst that brought this sprawling family together. In the summer of 2013, Leigh and Barbara planned an epic four-day family camping trip in the Yukon and Alaska to celebrate their 25 wedding anniversary. In a campground in Haines, Alaska, they appeared from their camper in full wedding regalia and two-dozen adults and kids feasted and danced the night away under the northern stars. This momentous event spawned five years of Stafford-Mayer reunions, most memorably Famstock 2017 at Mark and Jannie’s homestead farm near Smoky Lake, Alberta.
Leigh, the mobile of family and friends here today and all over the world is vibrating. So many lovely things have happened in the wake of your passing: the arrival in Edmonton of your Australian brother Dylan to connect with your Canadian family on the day you left this life; messages of your intimate conversations with people zinging through cyberspace; articles in the Whitehorse papers with tributes to your careful listening, your compassion, and your balanced judgements; and, in profound tribute, the flag at the Whitehorse courthouse flying at half mast, followed by other lowered flags throughout the city.
We salute you, Leigh. Husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, friend, judge, pilgrim. You inspire us to be the best possible human beings we can strive to be. Safe travels, Beloved.
Donations in Leigh’s memory may be made to:
The Nakai Theatre in Whitehorse, YT nakaitheatre.com
The Center for Contemplation and Action in Albuquerque, NM cac.org
A Memorial Service for family and friends will be held on January 5 In Whitehorse…
A Court Memorial Service will be held at 3 pm on January 9 at the Whitehorse Courthouse.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Leigh Francis Gower 2018..
Death notice for the town of: Edmonton, Province: Ontario