James Donald LeBlanc

LeBLANC, James Donald - Age 92 of Halifax, departed for Heaven on July 25, 2018 at the QEII Halifax Infirmary, on what would have been his recently departed sister Claire’s 100th birthday. Born in Wedgeport NS, he was the son of Joseph Ligouri and Ann Helena (née Pothier) LeBlanc. He is survived by 2 sons in Halifax; Peter and Michael (Dorothea), 2 grandchildren Christel (Greg) and Daniel (Hallie), and 1 greatgrandchild, Katherine. His wife Lorraine (Landry) of Wakefield Massachusetts predeceased him. Don is also survived by his sister Katherine Shaughnessy of Yarmouth (94), and nieces Leona Coburn and Jeanne (Brenda) LeBlanc of Halifax, Carolanne Hatt and Sandra Whynot of Liverpool, Michelle (Rick) Crouse of Bridgewater, grandnieces and grandnephews Nicole, Luc-Andre, Lisa, Shane, Tania, Gillian, Katie, Andrew, as well as great nieces, Arianna, Nikolai, Claire, Lauren, and Layla. Don was predeceased by his brother “Newspaper Joe” (Doris) LeBlanc, Yarmouth, sisters Leona, Yarmouth, Ursula (Jack) Neville, Halifax, Rosa (Nelson) Deveau, Liverpool, Geraldine “Jill” (Joe) D’Eon, Yarmouth, Vivian, Montreal, and Claire, Yarmouth.

"A private family celebration of his life will be held on Wednesday August 1 at 4pm at Head of St. Margaret’s Bay. If interested in attending please contact the family for further details."

J.D. LeBlanc was born on February 16, 1926 in Wedgeport. Shortly thereafter his family moved to Yarmouth to establish a small hotel “The Acadia House” on Main Street. Next door to the Acadia House, radio station CJLS set up its broadcasting studio when Don was a young boy. He was able to look out his bedroom window to watch the announcers while listening to them on his crystal radio set.

He was in the Air Cadets during the war years, and it was during this time that he developed an enthusiasm for aviation. Although he never obtained his pilot’s license, he was an accomplished model airplane designer and builder, and operated radio controlled airplanes as a hobby for most of his adult life.

After graduating high school in 1945, he went “down the road”, to enroll in Lorne Greene’s “The Academy of Radio Arts” in Toronto. Graduating near the top of his class, he found employment in 1948 as the Program Director of a new radio station: CJOY in Guelph.

In 1954, he married Lorraine (neé Landry) from Wakefield, Massachusetts. They had first met as teenagers at a wedding in Sluice Point, NS. They had two boys, Michael, a professor of design at NSCAD in Halifax, and Peter, a retired residential property developer, now living in Head of St. Margaret’s Bay.

Don was someone who we would now call a “maker”. In addition to his model airplane hobby, he enjoyed building and maintaining things. He repaired his cars where it was possible in light of a limited space and tool budget, he built a sun deck on the back of his Guelph house, replaced household aluminum wiring and landscaped several properties as the family moved from house to new house to new house.

During his time at CJOY, he had the opportunity to work with many popular entertainers: Gordie Tapp, Lloyd Robertson and Bob MacAdorey, to name a few. He also worked with Pierre Berton, Charles Templeton and Gordon Sinclair after he moved to CFRB in Toronto in 1966. He returned to Guelph in 1972 and retired as Program Director of sister station CKLA-FM in 1991.

Don and Lorraine made regular trips east to visit friends and family. They also vacationed regularly in Florida for a few weeks in the colder months. After Lorraine passed away in 2006, Don decided to move to Bridgewater the following year, and bought a house near his sister Jill and niece Michelle Crouse. Early in 2018, he moved to the assisted living facility Parkland Clayton Park in Halifax to be close to his two sons.