Remembering
Leonard George Burton
January 6, 1928 —April 13, 2007
Leonard George Burton of Vavenby BC passed away peacefully on April 13, 2007 at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater, BC. He was 79 years old.
For the past several years, Len resided in a cabin beside Jones Creek on the Birch Island – Lost Creek Road on Aveley Ranch (the Moilliet’s sheep ranch) near Vavenby.
He was born to parents Ivy and George Burton on January 6, 1928 in Portsmouth, England. Len was predeceased by his mother and two siblings in England during World War II and later by his father in Argentina.
Len joined the Royal Navy in 1944 at 16 years of age. He served during WWII on convoy escort duty. After the war, he was trained in refrigeration and air conditioning by the British Army, he served as a field engineer in Egypt, worked in the Army surplus depot in Australia and later went to work in Argentina where he met up with his father. In the 1950’s he spent several years in the Merchant Marine.
In 1956 Len moved to Canada. He worked at a variety of jobs in the C.P.R. freight yards (Toronto ON and Port Coquitlam BC) and then trained to become a professional photographer. He subsequentlly applied his photography skills with the Royal Canadian Air Force, at Eaton’s on their catalogue production, and finally as a property photographer for the New Westminster Real Estate Board.
Len moved to BC’s North Thompson valley to retire and immediately fell in love with it. He lived in Barriere, Little Fort, Avola, and most recently Vavenby, where he lived in a 100 year old log cabin on Aveley Ranch.
Len’s hobby was his “tools.” He loved to fix things and to help others whenever he could. Len had a generous heart and was content to live a very simple life.
He had a great sense of humour and enjoyed telling colourful stories of his many adventures around the world.
Len will be missed by friends and neighbours, especially Bob and Colleen Jensen of Avola, Eleanor Deckert of Avola, the Moilliet family of Aveley Ranch, Vavenby and Ted Richardson (A.K.A. “George”) of Clearwater. The Moilliet children – Joseph, Vienna, Seth and Isaac – will greatly miss “Mr. Burton”; they visited him regularly at his cabin, where they enjoyed chocolate milk and cookies, and “Mr. Burton’s” many humourous tales!
Len requested that no funeral be held. Friends are invited to gather at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, 2007 at Aveley Ranch, Vavenby BC, for informal sharing of memories and for the scattering of Len’s ashes.
For more information, please phone June Moilliet at 250-676-9478, or Drake Smith at North Thompson Funeral Services.
In Len’s memory, donations may be made to the Trust account at Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital, Clearwater, BC, 250-674-2244, for the equipment fund.
Funeral arrangements entrusted to North Thompson Funeral Services, 73 Taren Drive, Box 2404 RR2, Clearwater, BC, V0E 1N0, 250-674-3030.