Leonard John Surges

Leonard John Surges, PEng, CD

b. 2 August 1956, Vancouver, BC

d. 1 September 2024, Ottawa, ON

Leonard was the fourth child of Albert (Bud) and Evelyn (Sally Faulkner) Surges in a Vancouver, BC family of six children. A leader, he preceded his twin Lawrence by five minutes. They sang The Beatles’ “She Loves You,” at age 6, joined a church choir at 7, and Leonard later sang at St Francis of Assisi (Mississauga) then St Matthew’s Anglican Church (Ottawa) until he had a stroke in July. 

Leonard was an excellent student and enrolled in Major Works, a gifted program for Grade 7. He attended a World Jamboree in Idaho in 1969 and eventually became a Queen’s Scout. At 10, he took up French horn, and discovered his muse. He played in a youth orchestra and in militia bands until he transferred to the Infantry Branch in 1980. In 1971, he and Lawrence toured Europe for six weeks with their high school band – a trip their mother Sally helped organize. 

Like his eldest brother Keith, Leonard studied metallurgical engineering at the University of British Columbia; with brothers Lawrence and Ken and their band teacher, he played in the Band of the 15th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA(M) from 1976 to 1979 then in the Band of the 2nd Battalion, Royal New Brunswick Regiment (NS) until 1980.

Leonard began working at Brunswick Mining & Smelting in Bathurst NB in 1979 and earned a PEng designation. He worked on exchange with the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources from 1990 to 1992, then returned to Bathurst for four years. 

After service as a Musician, he was an Infantryman, then an Infantry officer in the Royal New Brunswick Regiment and Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa. Leonard met Kathryn (Kathi) Racine, who was also a reserve officer, in 1986; they married in 1988, and Leonard became a devoted, loving husband and father to Alexander, Nicholas, and Jacqueline. He worked at Noranda (Falconbridge) headquarters in Toronto from 1996 before joining the federal Public Service in 2005 at an Executive level. He’ll be greatly missed by colleagues wherever he went or served and by his St Matthew’s Anglican Church family and choir. 

Predeceased by parents Albert (Bud) and Evelyn (Sally), Leonard is survived by his wife of 36 years, Kathi, and children Alex, Nick, and Jacquie (Ross Arial), siblings Keith (Louisa Fok), Phyllis, Sally Jean, Lawrence (Hilary Mackey), and Ken (Randall Chong), and many nieces, nephews, and in-laws. 

A memorial visitation will be held at the Westboro Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 403 Richmond Road (at Roosevelt) on Wednesday, September 4th from 2-4 & 6-8 p.m.

His life well-lived will then be celebrated at St Matthew’s Anglican Church on Saturday, November 16, 2024, and his ashes will be interred in a private ceremony at the National Military Cemetery at Beechwood.

Leonard supported many charities. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in his memory to one of:

Heart&Stroke

OrKidStra 

Plan Canada International

Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa Charitable Foundation