January 14, 1962 – November 5, 2018
Passed peacefully at Hospice Wellington with friends and family by her side, after an awesome but too short life. She leaves behind two daughters, Natalie and Meredith, their father Ian, her sister Karen, and nephews Phil and Matt. Predeceased by her parents Robin and Carmen.
Leslie came to Guelph in 1980 to go to school and never left. She was employed by the University of Guelph where she had the privilege of interacting with many amazing students and co-workers. She enjoyed her work enormously and sometimes couldn’t believe that she got paid to do it. She was Snowy Owl for the 13th Guelph Brownies and met another amazing bunch of girls and women. She was a regular visitor to the Guelph Public Library and often said her library card was one of the most valuable cards in her wallet. She enjoyed knitting and sewing and in the warmer weather could often be seen knitting at the bus stop.
Cremation has taken place. Celebration of life will take place at the OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre, 200 Arboretum Rd. on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 11:30 am. If desired, charitable donations can be made to the U of G Arboretum or the Leslie Rye Memorial Scholarship, Algonquin Wildlife Research station or the Julien Project.
“I tried to leave the place better than I found it.”
A tree will be planted in memory of Leslie A. Rye in the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest, University of Guelph Arboretum. Dedication service, Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 2:30 pm.