Leonard Garber ~ peacefully, with family at his side, Mr. Leonard Wilbur Garber of Listowel, passed away on Sunday, February 7, 2016, in his 85th year.

Beloved husband of Doris (Reesor) Garber. Father of Anne and Daniel Kompaoré of Burkina Faso, West Africa, Philip and Diane Garber of Canmore, Alberta, Ruth and Wayne Drudge of Listowel, Stephanie Garber of Victoria, B.C., and Carolyn Garber of Vancouver, B.C.

Grandfather of 7, and great-grandfather of 14.

Brother of Rhoda Cressman, David Garber, and Lois and Milton Lehman, all of Pennsylvania, Phoebe and John Hershey, and Esther Garber, all of Virginia, and Rachel Garber of Quebec, and brother-in-law of Edith Garber of Idaho, and Helen (Reesor) and Elton Bomberger of Indiana. Also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Predeceased by his brother John Garber, infant brother Ethan Garber, brothers-in-law Arnold Cressman, and Wally Bless, and by his sister-in-law Carol Garber.

Leonard W. Garber was born on May 10, 1931 in South Boston, Virginia, the oldest child of John Fay and Anna May (Wenger) Garber. In his early years, the family made a number of moves as his father ministered at various Mennonite churches in Virginia. In 1946 Leonard's father accepted a call to pastor a church in Alma, Ontario, moving the family to a farm in the area. As the oldest of eight children, Leonard helped with much of the farm work, leaving his father free to minister to his congregation and traveling as an evangelist. As a young man, Leonard attended Winter Bible School in Kitchener where he met his future bride, Doris Reesor.

Leonard and Doris married on April 17, 1954 and settled in Markham Ontario on Doris' home farm. Over the following eighteen years, Leonard pursued a career in education as their family became a family of seven.

After finishing Leonard's teacher training, the family began an odyssey of moves from the Thunder Bay area to Southwestern Ontario to Moose Factory to Frederiction where he finished as Superintendent of Indian Schools for New Brunswick. In 1980 it was time for new horizons. Leonard switched to the Federal Department of Agriculture, making good use of the skills he had developed to become the administrative officer of an agricultural research station.

Leonard never lost his love for learning and continually sought to increase his knowledge and education. He also had a great love for new technology and was never afraid to try new things. As computers became readily available, Leonard taught himself computer programming. This led to a third career as a computer programmer at the age of 58, when on his own time he developed a program which was adopted for widespread use within Agriculture Canada. This achievement resulted in another move to headquarters in Ottawa and earned Leonard a Merit award from the Federal Government for exceptional and distinguished contribution. In 1999, at age 68, Leonard retired from a long and fulfilling career.

Leonard and Doris moved to Listowel in 2000 to enjoy their retirement years close to one of their children, Ruth and Wayne and their family.

Leonard was a faithful member of the Listowel Mennonite Church and his passing will be mourned by many.

Visitation will be held at the Eaton Funeral Home, Listowel on Wednesday from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The funeral service will be held at Listowel Mennonite Church on Thursday, February 11th at 11:00 a.m. Pastor Norm Dyck officiating.

Interment in Fairview Cemetery, Listowel.

Memorial donations to Mennonite Central Committee or Listowel Church Group Refugee Resettlement would be appreciated.