Leonard Schlemm '29, Oldest Old Boy dies

The oldest Selwyn House Old Boy still in contact with the school died on February 12.

Born in 1913, Leonard Schlemm started at SHS in the days of horse-drawn sleds, when the city didn’t snowplow the streets. After graduating from Selwyn House, he went to Ashbury College, then McGill, earning a Master’s Degree in geology.

He joined the navy soon after graduating from McGill, but suffered from acute seasickness so was assigned to another job that would make him less queasy: as a member of a bomb-disposal squad in London during World War II Blitz. He was the only member of his team to survive the war because the Germans kept changing the colour-coding on the wires, so disarming a bomb was always a guessing game as to which wire was which.

After the war, he went into mining, then worked for Howard Webster managing the Windsor Hotel. Later he was Vice-President of Mart Bonaventure.

Leonard Schlemm was always a world-class athlete, specializing in racquet sports. He and his late brother, Garry (Selwyn House ’32), started playing at what is now the Atwater Club in 1924. He was a Canadian champion in squash and badminton into his 20s and an international champion for decades afterward. Leonard won the U.S. Veterans’ Seniors’ Open with Former Westmount Mayor Paul Ouimet when he was close to 65.

Leonard had three grandsons who also attended Selwyn House: Leonard 2004, Tyler 2008 and Anton 2009.

Leonard Sr. returned to Selwyn House on Founder’s Day 2007 to cut the ribbon officially opening a year-long celebration of the school’s centennial.

The following obituary was published in The Gazette on February 14, 2013:

Peacefully in his sleep, in the early hours of Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at Place Kensington in Westmount after a long and wonderful life. Born in 1913, Leonard was predeceased by his beloved wives Roslyn and Christine, and by his brother and best friend, Garry. He leaves to mourn his two sons Leonard (Annick-Isabelle Marcoux) and Anton (Sally), his eight loving grandchildren (Leonard Jr., Courtney, Tyler, Alana, Sara, Amanda, Anton Jr. and Elsa) and his step-daughters Marian and Jean. He is also fondly remembered by his friend and long-standing companion, Nancy Lloyd, his sister-in-law Joyce, his nephew Christopher and nieces Wendy and Jennifer, and his cousin Philip Brown and his children (Judy, Patrick, Kathrine and Philippe). Leonard had two main passions in life: his racquet sports at The Atwater Club (formerly MB&SC) and his close friends and family at Lac Brule. In the words of Gavin and Derek Drummond from their book "The Atwater", "Leonard is in virtually everybody's opinion but his own the best all-round athlete to have ever competed for the MB&SC." He won numerous provincial and Canadian championships over the years, both in badminton and in squash. He was still a regular on the courts well into his eighties. He is also a past president of the Club. On weekends and after retiring, Leonard's life was at Lac Brule where his father had first bought a country home in 1923. As the Schlemm family expanded, Lac Brule became the home base future generations returned to. Leonard's Brule residence was his home with Nancy until November of last year, when he moved to Place Kensington. The family extends their sincere appreciation to the staff at Place Kensington, and particularly Carol and Sharon, for all their assistance. A celebration of Leonard's life will be held in the vicinity of Lac Brule in May, to coincide with what would have been his 100th birthday.