Lifetime Elks Lodge volunteer dies at 66
Well-known justice of the peace was diagnosed with cancer in November
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When Dave Hurley speaks of fellow Elks Lodge member Sheila Leonardis, he recalls a well-respected woman who worked hard to help her community.
Husband Joe Leonardis, left, and grandson Nathan Leonardis are pictured with Sheila Leonardis on the right. Sheila died on Dec. 24, just one month after learning she had stage four lung cancer. - photo courtesy of Monica Leonardis |
As a lifetime member of the volunteer organization and former Elks president, Leonardis hosted bingo nights, cooked for community events and raised money for all kinds of causes.
"Sheila was really involved," Hurley said. "She was just a very dedicated member of the Elks."
The 66-year-old volunteer and well-known Yellowknife justice of the peace died in Edmonton on Dec. 24, just one month after doctors diagnosed her with stage four lung cancer.
In 2013, doctors discovered Sheila had pulmonary fibrosis, her daughter -in-law Monica Leonardis told Yellowknifer. The disease causes scar tissue to build up on the lungs and makes it increasingly difficult for a person to breathe over time.
Leonardis had been on a special exercise regiment and going to medical appointments in order to qualify for a double lung transplant that doctors in Edmonton told her she needed, Monica said.
When she showed up to a Nov. 23 appointment at the hospital, she didn't get the good news about the transplant she thought she would receive.
"That's when they told us she only had three weeks to a month," Monica said.
Doctors told Leonardis she was dying from an aggressive form of cancer that had already spread to her brain and lymph nodes.
"We're really thankful for the little time we had," Monica said.
Although she lives in Saskatchewan, Monica made bi-weekly trips to the North to visit her mother-in-law. Most of Leonardis' 13 grandchildren were able to visit her one last time before she died.
"She was a very loving and gentle person. She would have given us anything and everything we asked for," Monica said. "And she would do that for anyone."
Her compassion for others extended to her job as a justice of the peace, where Leonardis performed dozens of weddings, signed marriage licenses and helped women in situations of domestic violence find protection at local women's shelters.
She also played a role in the creation of the Young Offenders Act, Monica said.
Outside of work, Leonardis was known as a respected leader.
In his nine years volunteering with the Elks, Hurley saw Leonardis serve on both the executive and as a president.
"Behind the scenes . . . there's always something that doesn't go the way you plan it," Hurley said. "One of the things about Sheila, it never seemed to phase her. She would just continue on. And she always had a smile."
Her easy-to-work-with attitude helped her climb the ranks of the Elks, Hurley said.
Besides serving with the organization in Yellowknife, Leonardis served as the Elks territorial president for four years and as chairperson of provincial and territorial Elks presidents for a few years, Hurley said.
"She was very well-respected no matter where she went, and I think a lot of it was because of her personality, because of her dedication and because she was a fun person to be around," he said.
But most important of all was her family.
"She would be that mother bear if one of us got hurt," Monica said. "She loved her kids and husband with all her heart."
Leonardis always made time for her grandchildren, she said.
"They would phone grandma, grandma would take them for a hot chocolate and then bring them home," Monica said.
On other days, all the grandchildren would get together for sleepovers at Leonardis' house. Since slumber parties required everyone to sleep in the same room, they would all huddle their sleeping bags around their grandma and grandpa's bed.
At Christmas time, Leonardis was legendary for surrounding two feet of the floor below the tree with presents for her family.
"She loved her grandkids," Monica said. "They were her whole world."
Leonardis was born in Hamilton, Ont. and grew up in Timmins.
She met her husband Joe Leonardis in Uranium City, Sask. They were married on Feb. 1, 1969 and moved to Yellowknife later that year.
Shortly after, the couple started up the former plumbing and heating company JSL Mechanical. They brought their business to Inuvik for a year before moving back to the city, where Leonardis lived ever since.
She is survived by her husband Joe Leonardis and her children Joe Jr., Ken, Audrey, Shelley and Ronnie. She was predeceased by another daughter, Laura Lynn, and her mother.
She also leaves behind 13 grandchildren, her father and four brothers.
A funeral service will be held for Leonardis on Jan. 4 at 1 p.m. at St. Patrick's Church.
