Leonard Orr was born in West Apple River, Nova Scotia on May 27, 1923, the oldest of seven children of Clara (Barkhouse) and Clifford Orr. His mother was a teacher before starting the family, and later taught to augment the family income, while Leonard helped by providing board and lodging for two of his brothers. Following graduation from high school, he attended Teacher's College for two years, and received an Industrial Arts Diploma. His first teaching job was at Windsor Academy in Windsor, Nova Scotia. He recalled that his five years there were challenging, since the facilities and shop equipment was in rough shape, and grade-nine students were not easy to handle (with many repeaters). It was a “major learning experience” for him, but he eventually gained control of the students and they managed to produce some admirable wood-working projects. After school he also supervised boys and girls athletic teams and taught night courses. It was at one of the evening courses that Leonard met a nurse named Hazel Allen, and they soon became close friends.

Leonard was accepted at Acadia University and graduated in 1949, whereupon he entered a pre-med course at Dalhousie in Halifax. From 1949 to 1956, he alternated teaching jobs with the pursuit of a degree by attending summer school. One of these positions meant traveling out West. Leonard and Hazel Allen married in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1953 and two days later packed their car and drove to Cluny, Bow Valley District, Alberta. His new duties involved a four-school circuit (including two Blackfoot First Nations reserves), driving 56 miles a day. Conditions in the small town were rather primitive, necessitating carrying water and emptying a chemical toilet daily. However, an increase in salary of $1300 made the challenges worthwhile.

Leonard taught grades six to twelve (both boys and girls), but the Native pupils became less interested in school as they progressed to higher grades, and sadly most dropped out by grade nine. Leonard noted that many of these students appreciated being helped, and he joined with the reverend at the local Anglican Church in rounding out their education as much as possible before they left their studies. The other students came mostly from regional farms and were good workers and pleasant to have in class. He remembered one boy in particular -- Morgan -- showed interest in building a racing boat, and so teacher and student spent many an afternoon after classes, and on weekends, until the boat was ready for trials on a nearby lake. The project was a complete success, as measured by the fact that the craft sped across the water with a 20 hp outboard without breaking apart.

The following year (September 1954) the Orr's moved to St. Lambert, where Leonard began his ten-year teaching career at Chambly County High School, with a staff consisting of 28 teachers. However, with the student enrolment of 750 and classroom space for only 650, the school was significantly over-crowed! In addition, the classrooms were not completely ready to receive classes, with much of the floor tile yet to be laid. Leonard's Industrial Arts room was empty, lacking tiles, electrical outlets, and benches and chairs. CCHS class periods were 50-minutes and teachers were expected to cover five per day, leaving one period as a spare to complete the many other tasks. Beyond these regular duties, Leonard spent many evenings and weekends ordering and installing all the equipment for wood-working and technical drawing. A few years later he added General Science and Biology subjects to his teaching load, which he greatly enjoyed because of a number of keen students. His teaching duties were considerable -- at times responsible for up to 300 pupils. Leonard was always willing to offer students extra help and advice, often remaining after school or meeting them over the weekend. A major project was helping the Leonard boys (no relation) build a kayak, which was voted a great success when it performed beautifully in the water. A favorite past-time of Leonard was accompanying the CCHS Senior Bowling Team to the alley on Green Street each Wednesday after school.

The couple returned to Acadia for the summers until Leonard graduated with a Bachelor's of Education in 1956. He then attended post-graduate studies in the summers at Bishops University in Lennoxville, Quebec, and New York Teacher's College in Oswego, New York, where he obtained his Master's Degree, specializing in Industrial Arts.

From 1963 to 1975, Leonard served as Vice-Principal and Principal at the Lemoyne d'Iberville High School (with over 800 students) in Longueuil, positions that included duties of teaching two Biology classes and arranging teachers' schedules. He remembered that when the news of President Jack Kennedy's assassination reached the school, his office was flooded with distraught and crying students. Other upsetting situations involved been called to the Principle's office to witness the delivery of "corporal punishment" to problem students, to sit in on reprimands to certain teachers, to deliberate teacher transferals or dismissals, and to moderate teacher-student conflicts. Student (and sometimes teacher) late arrivals were a common problem. One of his worst experiences, which occurred at Lemoyne d'Iberville High School, was attempting to handle a threatening situation involving a teacher suffering from a mental breakdown. Fortunately the event concluded safely with the police transferring the teacher to hospital.

At another high school, he found his name written on a washroom stall with a non-complimentary message. True to his thorough nature, he tracked down the culprit by analyzing the handwriting style, and when confronted with the evidence, the student admitted his wrong-doing. No further derogatory messages appeared on the stalls.

From 1975 to 1984, Leonard worked as the Education Officer and Assistant to the Director at the Regional School Board Office. He supervised and appraised new teachers, oversaw Provincial exams, approved requests for student enrollment, and recommended and helped establish an alternative-school program for students with special needs, thereby giving them another chance to continue their education and to become successful. He was also in charge of Technical-Vocational teachers and subjects (Electronics, Technical Drawing, Auto Mechanics, etc.). He was also expected to resolve student problems between parents and School Administration. It was a busy nine years, but for the most part a very satisfying time.

One of the most-disturbing situations was having to place out-of-Province, non-Francophone students into French schools (Bill 101), where most were clearly unable to cope with the language barrier. Parents had to quit their jobs and return to their original home, or send their children back home to live with gandparents in order to continue their education. Leonard thought this was a very sad predicament to force onto desperate people. On a more-positive note, Leonard was shocked when during the 1975 Valedictorian speech, the student remarked to the audience that; “Mr. Orr has done more for our school than anyone.” He returned to CCHS in 1984 to teach grade nine Technology and then the same course in 1986 at Lemoyne d'Iberville High School. He then retired in 1986, after a 42-year career in education. He had by this time witnessed the graduation ceremonies of over 1600 students.

Hazel and Leonard lived on Berkley Street in St. Lambert, within walking distance of the High School. They are the proud parents of two daughters and two sons, and have four grandchildren, currently living in Canada and the United States. Hazel passed away in 2010 at age 85, and Leonard continues to live in his Berkley home. On his early morning walks along Brixton Street, he looks across the field at the windows of his old Industrial Arts Shop at CCHS, and reminisces about the many hours he spent there during classes, after school and and on weekends, performing the job he loved -- helping his students. He glows with pride knowing that so many of his students at CCHS and L.I.H.S. did so well in their careers.