Vetnuus | November 2024 17 Leslie Walter Marshall: 1944 – 2024 Leslie Marshall was born on 27 September 1944 in Benoni, Gauteng where he lived with his parents and two sisters. He began his schooling at the Northmead Primary School, Benoni and later attended the Groot Marico Primary and Secondary Schools, North-West Province. Leslie spent his last two years of schooling at the Klerksdorp High School where he matriculated. At school, he loved playing rugby but did not continue playing once leaving school. With a desire to become a veterinarian, Leslie attended the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education for his first year of study and then went on to study Veterinary Science at Onderstepoort, Pretoria University where he graduated as a veterinarian in 1967. As a student, Leslie was found to be very friendly but rather quiet and reserved. He approached his studies judiciously and participated in the usual extramural student activities After graduating, Leslie served as a State Veterinarian in Kroonstad for a year. In 1969 he moved to Welkom where he started is own small animal practice as a service to the community. In 1970 he built a large, modern veterinary hospital which was known as the OFS Animal & Avian Hospital. The hospital was equipped with all the necessary stateof-the-art instrumentation and equipment whereby the hospital’s four veterinarians and suitably trained staff were in the position to provide an excellent professional service to the local community. When Leslie first started practising in Welkom he worked closely with the local SPCA as an additional service to the community. A few years later Leslie established a satellite practice, also known as the OFS Animal & Avian Hospital, in the neighbouring mining town of Virginia, Free State Province. He played a large role in establishing a branch of the SPCA in Virginia, which his practice supported. With his interest in psittacine birds, Leslie completed a course in the sexing of parrots and also completed a course for the scanning and treatment of canine hip dysplasia. Early in his career, Leslie was married for a relatively short period with the marriage ending in a divorce and with no children being born from the marriage. In September 2014, Leslie married Juanita Barnard. They had no children. Leslie suffered from severe, generalised osteoarthritis for many years, with the concomitant, persistent pain having a marked debilitating effect on his health. However, this did not deter him from continuing to practice right up to the end. The wonderful caring and obvious affection that Juanita showed toward Leslie with his partial disability was markedly noticeable and appreciated by his classmates when the couple participated in the activities of our Class of 1967 Reunion weekend in 2017. Leslie’s entire career was dedicated to providing the highest possible quality of professional service to the community and their animals. In Juanita’s words, “Leslie was the humblest and kind person I’ve ever met. He had a heart of gold. Always wanting the best for other people, never wanted to cause any inconvenience, was always thankful and a Godly man. He was one of a kind”. Leslie’s hobby was breeding exotic parrots, and he was also a keen vintage car enthusiast with his vintage Jaguar being his favourite. However, his main outside interest was the enjoyment he obtained from breeding Brahman cattle on his farm in the Ventersdorp district. Leslie was known for being a humble, kind, friendly, dedicated and caring veterinarian to his community and for being a devoted and caring husband to Juanita. After developing abdominal pain and being rushed to the local hospital, where a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was made, Leslie passed away on the morning of 24 August 2024, 34 days before his 80th birthday and his and Juanita’s 10th wedding anniversary. At this sad time, our thoughts are with Juanita, sharing her heartache and expressing our deep gratitude for her dedicated support, love and unconditional caring for Leslie. He will be sorely missed by his family, friends, clients and Onderstepoort classmates. v Vincent Turner pp. Class of 1967
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