LEGER, JOSEPH ARTHUR (1889-1957)

LEGER, JOSEPH ARTHUR, railwayman and military officer; b. St Louis de Kent, N.B., 3 Nov 1889, s/o Auguste Theophile Leger and Adeline Hébert; m. 1st, Margaret Kennedy, of Saint John, and 2nd, Virginia Riley, of Moncton; d. Newcastle, 28 Apr 1957.

J. Arthur Leger grew up in Richibucto as a son of the high sheriff of Kent County. Later his father was the MP for the riding of Kent.

In civilian life Leger was a railwayman, being foreman for many years of the CNR yards at Newcastle. His military career began in 1905 when he joined the militia at Richibucto as a private. Commissioned in 1914, he served overseas in World War I. Later, he rose through the militia to become a lieutenant colonel in 1935 and commanding officer of the North Shore Regiment. After the outbreak of World War II he was succeeded by an officer from the regular army, while he undertook the task of recruiting the 1st Battalion of the North Shore Regiment for overseas duty. He retired from military life after the war and was awarded the Legion of Merit Medal in 1951.

Leger was a Newcastle town councillor and school trustee and played a part in several community organizations. His death in 1957, at age sixty-seven, was the result of a car accident. He was survived by his second wife, Virginia Riley, three sons, and two daughters.