Michael’s Obituary
Former journalist, television documentary scriptwriter and CBC Radio producer Michael Richard LeBlanc peacefully passed away September 7, 2020 at the age of 59. He had lived in Moncton, N.B. since 1983 but was born on December 11, 1960 in Yarmouth, N.S. and was raised in nearby Wedgeport. He started his journalism career writing and editing the school newspaper at Ste. Anne Du Ruisseau High School. While earning his Honours Bachelor’s degree in Journalism at the University of Kings College in Halifax, he worked one summer at French-language Le Courier weekly newspaper and three summers at The Yarmouth Vanguard weekly newspaper, both in Yarmouth. Starting in 1983, he worked seven years at the Moncton Times & Transcript as a general assignment and court reporter and eventually switched to entertainment editor and humour columnist. In 1990, he began working periodically at CBC Moncton in various capacities, eventually becoming associate producer of “Mainstreet”, an afternoon radio show based in Moncton. When that show was provincialized (first to Saint John, then eventually to it’s current home as “Shift” in Fredericton) , he began a period of story editing and script writing for television. He wrote on three successive East Coast Music Awards, then story-edited and scripted for documentary series airing on History Television (“Turning Points of History”) and Discovery Channel (“Frontiers of Construction”). It was during these years between 1998 and 2007 that he was elected Atlantic representative of the body that represents screenwriters in Canada, The Writer’s Guild of Canada. For a brief period, he established his own production company along with two partners, during which he helped create the Radio-Canada series “Petites Vues de Chez Nous.” In 2007, he returned to CBC Moncton to become a producer and on-air director of the radio program “Information Morning,” which is broadcast throughout eastern New Brunswick. He was forced to retire from that position in 2015 due to chronic kidney failure brought on by diabetes. Save for a brief bi-coastal relationship with a woman in the early 2000s, he remained un-attached throughout most of his life. His biggest regret was his inability to balance work with his health and personal life. He, however, felt bathed in the warmth that came his way from the friends he gained and maintained in Wedgeport, Yarmouth, Halifax and Moncton, many of whom rallied to his support when he took sick late in his life. During recent years, being unable to engage in his favourite pastime of golf, he increasingly turned to music for solace. He’d been playing piano since he was a child and began composing music in 2000 when he joined the Marshall Button-led HubCap Comedy Troupe. The sketch comedy group toured an annual revue in New Brunswick from 2000 to 2007. After he fell ill, he welcomed a group of singers and a bass player to his apartment for weekly practices in a group that eventually became known as Michael R. & The Belmars. That group appeared at several concerts that featured his musical arrangements and some original compositions. He was pre-deceased by his father, Richard Frederick LeBlanc, his mother, the former Claire Pothier, and his step-father, Gerard Pothier, all of Wedgeport. He leaves behind his brother, Roland LeBlanc, Sandra (Warren) Cottreau, both of Wedgeport, and a sister, Kathleen LeBlanc, of Ottawa; nieces Heidi (Warren Lalonde) Cottreau of Ottawa; Felicia Cottreau, of Yarmouth; Natalie LeBlanc, Montreal, and one nephew, Matthew of Quebec City. Also step-sister Michelle (Joe Armit) Pothier, Midland, Ont., and her daughter, Lucienne (Lucy) Pothier-Bogoslowski and son Gabriel Pothier-Maudsley; step-sister Lori (Allen) Halfper, daughter, Isabelle Boudreau and son Benjamin, all of Brockville, ON; great-nieces, Isabella LeBlanc & Mackenzie Stopa. Visitation at Huskilson’s Funeral Home, Wedgeport on Sunday, September 13, 2020 from 7-9 p.m. Funeral will be at St. Michael’s Church, Wedgeport, on Monday, September 14, 2020 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to either the Canadian Diabetes Association or the Kidney Foundation of Canada. You may sign the online guestbook by visiting www.huskilson.net
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Michael Richard LeBlanc December 11 1960 September 07 2020..
H.M.Huskilson funeral homes and crematorium
Death notice for the town of: Wedgeport, Province: Nova Scotia