Newey, Leslie Patrick James

Leslie Patrick James Newey passed through the light fantastic peacefully on Monday, September 4, 2017, succumbing to cancer. Patrick lived life to travel and just this year finished his trip of a lifetime by visiting family and friends whom he found and contacted over the years in Australia. “I would write letters if it wasn’t for email”, he once said as he always wanted to keep in touch and would go to various lengths to do so. Patrick is survived by his mother, Alexia Middleton Newey (Sault Ste. Marie), daughter Caitlin (Kingston), son-in-law David Gerrish and granddaughter Olivia Smith, sister Susan Kristiansen (Norway) and brother-in-law Nils-Bjarne, and by many family members around the globe as well as step-children Doug Ottney (Kingston), Cara-Lynne Ottney-Greer (Burlington) and Caitlin’s mother Virginia (Dusty) Newey (Kingston). Predeceased by his father Leslie Arthur Newey, and spouse Phyllis “Hedgie” Holdaway. Patrick was born in Coventry, England on March 13, 1947 and immigrated to Canada as a young child, taking up residence in Hamilton, ON before moving to Waterdown, ON. He attended Hillfield School for boys in Hamilton, then went on to Mohawk College. However, before graduating, the travel bug hit and Patrick took off to Europe and travelling became his main interest for a short time. After returning home, Patrick began working in Hamilton. Several years later he moved with his wife to Sudbury, where he started his family and spent the rest of his life creating a network of friends like only Patrick could. In that life, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, travel, friends, pig roasts and gatherings of any kind as long as he wasn’t anywhere near the center of attention. Formula One racing was a passion as was “footie” in his later years. He was well read as his cache of books would testify to. Patrick would challenge his network with math puzzles, after all, he was a “teacher”. He was a caring person as shown when he was caring for his beloved Hedgie, as she challenged cancer in a battle which she lost 20 months ago. Patrick worked in the electrical distribution industry for his entire career in customer service with a short stint in sales, which he didn’t like for the most part. He really enjoyed helping people rather than trying to sell to them. A friend of the family described Patrick as a gentle soul, who is now resting with a smile, knowing he lived his life with purpose and meaning. He will be missed and dazzled us all. Steinbeck writes “A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has a personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person itself; no two are alike.” As per Patrick’s wishes, he was cremated with no service. He will be remembered next summer when his Celebration of Life will be a pig roast, which he would have approved. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Maison McCulloch Hospice, or the Northern Cancer Foundation, Sudbury, in Patrick’s name would be appreciated.