We Remember
LE BLANC, Raymond Joseph
June 6, 1948 — February 1, 2026
Raymond Le Blanc, a resident of Kelowna since 2021, was taken by cancer, passing away on February 1, 2026, at Kelowna General Hospital.
Mourning his death are his wife of 43 years, Sheila Greer, and sons Owen and Hunter, along with his dog Maggie. Ray very much loved and was proud of his sons.
Born in New Brunswick, Ray grew up in Thistleton/Rexdale, in the greater Toronto area. Known for his sharp wit, great memory, leftist leanings and inability to suffer fools, Ray fulfilled his teenage aspiration and became a professional archaeologist (Ph.D. University of Toronto, Master’s from Memorial University of Newfoundland). He worked for the governments of Canada and Alberta and then went on to teach archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton for close to 30 years.
Ray was a fieldwork person; he loved the boreal forest and Canada’s north and had the highest regard for the indigenous peoples of this part of our country, in particular the Gwitchin of Old Crow, Yukon. Ray was highly respected, if not deeply loved, by his colleagues at the university, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Archaeological Survey of Alberta, as well as his graduate students. Many of the latter were like family.
Discussion and debate, along with good food, wine, and beer were always a part of family life with Ray, as were trips back to Ontario to visit family and friends residing in the homelands. In his retirement years, Ray and Sheila put on some significant travel miles, visiting various European countries along with Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka, and India.
In addition to family and archaeology, the other big love of Ray’s life was motorcycles, specifically British classic bikes. He loved to ride, worked at restoring bikes, and at one point was even lobbying to have a restored vintage motorcycle as the living room centrepiece.
Ray was predeceased by his parents Victor Le Blanc and Jean Bowry Le Blanc (Canadian soldier and British war bride), as well as his siblings John and Elaine Le Blanc and his brother-in-law Bob Greer.
A Celebration of Life gathering to honour Ray will be held in Edmonton in the spring. Further details to be announced.
Should you wish to do so, donations in Ray’s memory may be made to Paws It Forward.
If you wish to send a condolence, post photos, or share a memory, please scroll down the page to the area called “Condolences”.
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Condolences
So sorry for your loss Sheila. Worked many years with Ray and always enjoyed our conversations.
Sheila and family – Ray sounded like he was a man many would like to have called a friend. Cherish his insights and know my thoughts and prayers are with you. Cheryl
Ray loved the North; its people and environment and expressed it in his work in building Subarctic archaeology. He will be missed not only by his family, but those of us fortunate enough to know him as a friend and professional.
So sorry to hear , thinking of you and your family❤️
Our condolences to you and yours Sheila. Many of us here are thinking of you and Ray today and appreciating his nation-spanning presence.
Sheila, Hunter and Own, I am so sad for your loss. Although I didn’t know Ray personally, Jane always talked about him in the highest regard, usually with a smile or a slight giggle. I am sure she is feeling the distance from your family right now, more than ever. She loved him.
To the family of Raymond Le Blanc the archeologist. My late husband worked with Ray in the mid ’70s. When Ray came to our house (Old Crow) he would carry our baby, Harlan. That baby is now 51. We have many memories of Ray. We are sorry for your huge loss.
Rest in peace our dear friend.
Sheila, my sincere condolences to you and your sons, Owen and Hunter. It is always hard to have someone you love taken away. Shirley and family.
I’m very sad to see that another member of the old Department is gone. And, Shirley, I am so sorry for your loss….
I called him LeBlanc, I have always given nicknames for people I care for, and it seemed to suit his character and size. We met in 1975 as graduate students in Archeology at the University of Toronto.. Right away I realized LeBlanc was smarter than I was, more knowledgeable in our field, and had more experience as well.
So I struck a friendship with this curmudgeon to maybe learn something, and that friendship lasted 50 years.
We were both chosen to be part of the Northern Yukon Research Program at the U of T. LeBlanc because of his boreal and sub-arctic experience from his previous research at Memorial University in Nfld for his masters degree, and where he worked with some well known sub-arctic archeologists. I was chosen for my knowledge of bushcraft, ability to be far in the field on my own, and willingness to learn more about archeology.
We worked together in the northern Yukon for 3 summers starting in 1975. The first year he helped me and others set up a base camp about 7 miles upstream on the Porcupine River from Old Crow Yukon, where the tent camp could accommodate about 30 researchers, and where we could build a helicopter landing. We helped a First Nations guy named Lazarus Charlie build a river boat, without power tools. We and Lazarus were pretty proud of that boat.
LeBlanc taught me the importance of prehistory. I liked the story, he liked the technology of the past and through that he felt he could bring knowledge about both.
We were close, we seemed to be so totally different that we fit together somehow. In Toronto, we worked together analyzing our Yukon research at the downtown campus of U of T, at the old Borden Bldg at College and Spadina. The location was serendipitus, it was a block from the “El Mocambo”, a well known blues bar in the 1970’s, and LeBlanc was a fanatical blues fan. We spent countless weekends there listening to the likes of BB King, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and many others. And we had the odd drink or two there as well.
In our last year of fieldwork together he met a young masters student from U of T named Sheila Greer, who he fell in love with immediately, although LeBlanc was so shy it took a pounding from me for him to believe it. She took my best bud away from me, but I knew she was his kindred spirit and was happy for him to have met such a wonderful girl.
After 1978, our ways parted and he finished his doctorate with distinction. I was so proud of him but never told him because I was supposed to be the tough guy. He was fast becoming a pre-eminent scholar in the field of Boreal Archeology and I might have been a little jealous, having left the field in another direction. He became a noted professor at the University of Alberta where he taught for over 30 years.
Scroll 20 years where he and I rarely talked, and then again we struck up a long distance friendship over the telephone. For a number of years every month we would talk archeology, politics, especially his dislike for Alberta politics, and many other topics including raising children. We would argue incessantly, me on the right, him on the left, we were like that sheepdog and wolf in the cartoons. At the end of the call we would punch out the time clock and say goodnight, to go at it again and again.
Although he would never admit it, the West has been good to LeBlanc. He and Sheila had a wonderful home in Edmonton near the university, and I suspect that he really did like being a teacher, at least his idea of what a scholar should be. LeBlanc perhaps was a little too impatient with students who did not show the zeal and intellect that he expected of himself, a common failing among us and one which I have been accused of as well.
Shella and Ray finally moved to Kelowna, where their son Hunter lives nearby in Vernon while Owen has moved to Toronto, LeBlanc’s old stomping ground and where I think he probably was most comfortable in his skin, never having taken up the idea of western separatism.
LeBlanc was a good man, he was my friend and I will sorely miss him.
Yours, Ron
We knew Ray in the 1970s with our links to the anthropology/archaeology people. Raymie and Sheila became part of our life and left laughter, positive vibes and wonderful memories. The world was better because of him. .
We all feel an empty space in our hearts since Ray passed. Our memories of camping and dinners will remain forever. Love to Sheila, Owen and Hunter.
For many years, we enjoyed having Ray and Sheila as our neighbors across the back lane in Edmonton. Lots of chats with Ray while he was working on his bikes in the garage, or we were picking raspberries next to their driveway. I remember foundly the more academic conversations that I would have with Ray sometimes when we would walk together to campus in the mornings. Our thoughts are with Sheila, Hunter, and Owen.
Nelson, Scott, and Daniel.
He was a lovely man. Our deepest condolences Sheila. Mike and Michelle.
Sheila and family…our deepest sympathies on the passing of Ray.Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.Cherish the memories.Joan Ferris and family