Leonard P. Choquette, 89, of North Fort Myers, Florida, and formally of Camden, passed away peacefully after a brief battle with cancer with his loving family by his side on December 31, 2020. He was born April 23, 1931 in Camden, NY, a son of the late Felix and Marion Widrig Choquette.
Leonard was a 1951 graduate of Camden High School. He proudly served during the Korean War in the United States Navy. During a period of that time he served on the USS Prosperine, ARL 21 under Operation Blue Jay the code name for one of the most ambitious building projects in military history, the construction of Thule Air Base in Greenland. It started as a secret project, but was made public in September 1952. He was a lifelong member of the American Legion. As a civilian he worked at the Camden Wire Company, the former Rochester Shoe Tree Company until its closing, and later worked for the Omega Wire Company, retiring in 1994.
On August 14, 1954, he married Marilyn A. Yager in the Camden United Methodist Church, a blessed union of 66 years. Together they enjoyed traveling, camping, friends, and family. In 1996, they moved to North Fort Myers, Fl. where he continued to work driving cars for dealerships, mowing lawns, and doing various jobs for neighbors.
Leonard enjoyed spending time at the family’s Panther Lake Cottage with his parents, siblings, and family. He also enjoyed snowmobiling, fishing, and playing cards with his friends. With his engineering adaptivity, he had a talent to construct many apparatuses that were functional to his hobbies and projects. He was also a talented carver and made many wood carvings of birds and animals.
Leonard is survived by his wife Marilyn , their three beloved children, a son, Craig (Michele) Choquette, Dunedin, Fl., two daughters, Susan (Dave) Nutting, Camillus, NY, and Judith (Karl) Keil, Camden, NY, six wonderful grandchildren, Brianne, Joshua, Jonathan, Logan, Megan, Hannah, and one step-grandson, David, and three great-grandchildren, Emilie, Nevaeh, and Josiah. He also leaves behind a brother, Joseph ‘Bud” Choquette (Tiny), one sister, June (Don) Lindstrom, and many loving nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by a sister and brother-in-law, Nancy (Dave) Martin, a brother and sister-in-law, George (Catherine) Choquette, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Anita (Robert) Nichols, brother-in-laws Alan Yager, and David Yager, and a nephew, Jeff Yager.
The family would like to thank Hope Hospice of Cape Coral Florida for their care, especially RN Pam from Team 330, that provided compassion and comfort to Leonard. Much gratitude and appreciation is also extended to Dr. Dave Seubert for his continuous medical and caring family support.
Internment will be at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Camden, NY. Keeping with his request, there are no calling hours. His life will be celebrated with a graveside service at a date to be determined this spring. In lieu of flowers, donations in Leonard’s memory can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital PO Box 50, Memphis TN 38101-9929.
|