Bell retiree adored his family and music
Leslie Godden of Waterloo Born: May 19, 1924, in Toronto Died: Aug. 4, 2017, age related causes
When 93-year-old Leslie Godden was too frail to go to practice, band members came to his retirement residence and together they would have one heck of a jam session, to the delight of other residents.
“He played in that band up until a few weeks before he died,” said daughter Anne Webster.
“Members would come play with him at Parkwood, sometimes there’d be five of them.”
Leslie played euphonium with the Grand River New Horizons Band, an organization that provides musicians of all skill levels opportunities to play together, regardless of how long it has been since they last picked up an instrument.
For Leslie, his hiatus lasted about five decades, during which time he’d married Joyce Vanderheiden in 1947, raised two girls and pursued a career with Bell Canada.
Leslie was in his 80s when he took up playing again, said Anne, who remembers when her parents would visit her in Halifax and a concert would break out in the living room with Leslie on his brass instrument, Joyce on piano and Anne’s kids on strings.
Those were joyous moments for the man who adored his family and music. In fact music had been part of his life since childhood, having been raised in the Salvation Army.
Leslie and his sister Kathleen were born in Toronto to a Scottish mother and English father, both who graduated from the Salvation Army Training College in London, England before immigrating to Canada following the First World War.
They served as Salvation Army majors, a calling that meant the family moved with each new posting: Toronto, St. Thomas, Orillia, Hamilton, St. John, London and Ottawa.
Daughter Beverley Anderson said all through his youth, her father played in Salvation Army bands.
“It certainly influenced his music,” she said. “He was always very involved in music.
“He also sang in church choirs, he had a very good singing voice.”
After Leslie graduated high school in 1941 he planned on joining the air force but until he was
old enough, the lad needed a job. He found one with CN freight where he stayed until turning 18 then joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Leslie trained in radar and was posted in the Maritimes before serving in the mobile radar unit in England and Northwest Europe where he was attached to the British Royal Air Force.
After returning to Canada in 1945, Leslie was unsure what to do with his life so he upgraded his high school credits and worked with the railway again.
In the fall of 1946, Leslie entered the University of Western Ontario under the returning veterans program.
“It had never occurred to him before the war he’d be able to go to university,” said Anne.
Her father studied math and physics with a minor in radiophysics and after graduating in 1950, Leslie worked in a research lab but decided it wasn’t for him and returned to Bell Canada where he’d worked as a student.
Leslie joined Bell’s traffic department, a division of the company that handled the movement of calls over its local or long distance lines in an era long before technology made everything automatic.
As a district superintendent, Leslie spent his first decade with Bell being transferred from Hamilton then to Toronto and then London, back to Toronto and then London again.
It seemed the life of moving from place to place that he had experienced as a child continued throughout his own career. But then he got lucky. In 1961, Leslie was transferred to Montreal where he happily settled into his job for 17 years, serving as Montreal area traffic manager.
It was during his time in Montreal that his bosses discovered a previously unknown talent in relating to people and coming to a resolution.
Leslie was assigned as a representative on a collective bargaining team.
“They recognized his skills,” said Anne.
Then Leslie took on a new role, transferred to Bell’s corporate headquarters as assistant vice-president of labour relations, where he worked for 11 years.
In a bio he wrote “that assignment gave rise to a number of very interesting and memorable experiences.”
Outside of his regular job, Leslie was involved in labour organizations including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce that twice sent him to Geneva, Switzerland as part of the Canadian delegation for the International Labour Organization sessions.
The sessions were designed to establish international labour standards. Anne recalled these sessions meant her father would be in Geneva for a month at a time, with Joyce enjoying activities planned for spouses.
Leslie also served on an advisory committee with McGill University’s industrial relations centre and he was part of a delegation sent to Israel.
Leslie’s success in human resources was largely because his genuine interest in people, a reflection of his Salvation Army upbringing.
“I think he was very giving and very socially conscious,” said Anne. “He was very concerned for others.
“He was never one to put himself first.”
Joyce, who he met at the Salvation Army church, had similar principles. They also both loved music, a common theme throughout their marriage.
Beverley said her parents were married for 65 years and as a special celebration of that milestone, the couple took the entire family, including the grandkids, on a Mediterranean cruise.
“He was very proud of his family,” said Beverley.
In 1983 Leslie retired as assistant vice-president of personnel for Ontario and the couple took advantage of their freedom. They purchased a lakefront home in Picton where Leslie took up boating though he wasn’t much of a fisherman. He also played golf but had more enthusiasm than skill. The couple loved to travel and spent winters in Florida.
When their rural property became too much work, they relocated to Waterloo and immediately involved themselves in this new community. And of course, Leslie bought a euphonium and joined the band.
After Joyce died in 2012, Leslie lived on his own until failing health forced him to move into the retirement home.
Beverley said her independent father was particularly good at staying in touch with family, partly because he was an early adopter of technology and even into his 80s and 90s, Leslie was adept on his cellphone, iPad and with email.
Anne added, their dad always saw the funny side of life and his humour tended to be more dry than raucous.
“He had a sense of humour and he could laugh at himself,” said Beverley. “He wouldn’t take himself seriously.”