Leopoldo Blancaflor Jr.'s Obituary
Leopoldo Blancaflor Jr. was born on August 29, 1933 in Lahaina, Maui to Leopoldo and Bessie Blancaflor.
Leo was the second oldest, having 3 brothers and 2 sisters. At the time, his father was known in Lahaina as the “Ice man”, due to his job delivering blocks of ice to homes for their “ice boxes”.
During World War 2, the family moved to Oahu where his father worked as an as an electrician at Pearl Harbor. After the war ended, the family moved back to Maui and resided in Haiku before eventually moving back to Lahaina. As a result, Leo attended several different O’ahu and Maui elementary schools.
In 1949, as a Freshman, Leo attended Maui HS in Kahului, Maui.
In 1950, the entire Blancaflor clan moved back to Oahu for the last time, to a house on Hani Lane, in Kalihi.
Leo attended Wallace Rider Farrington HS, and during the summer months, worked at the Dole Cannery at Iwilei. During his time at Farrington, Leo was a member of the ROTC program. Leo graduated from Farrington High School in June of 1952.
On November 5, 1952, at the age of 19, Leo started work at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in the fuel department.
During the mid 50’s through to the mid 60’s, Leo was a member of the Army Reserve, attaining the rank of sergeant.
Leo married Winifred June Fedalizo of Kihei, Maui, on June 20, 1958. The ceremony took place at the Saint Elizabeth church in Kihei. For the first three years of marriage, Leo and Winnie lived in a house along Dillingham Boulevard in Kalihi.
On May 7, 1959, their first son, Brian Charles was born.
In 1962, Leo and his family moved into a brand new home in a newly established neighborhood in Waipahu.
On July 21, 1962, their second son, Daryl Leo was born.
During the mid 60’s and into the mid 70’s, besides raising his family, Leo also participated in the Waipahu neighborhood softball league and the bowling league at Country lanes.
During the 70’s, Leo and Winnie took up ballroom dancing. They attempted to teach their teenaged sons ballroom dancing without much success.
In 1981, Leo, at the age of 48, became a grandfather for the first time. He eventually became a grandfather to a total of 7 grandchildren. Six of which survive him.
On January 31, 1987, Leo retired from the Pearl Harbor Shipyard Fuel Department after 34 years at the age of 54.
After retiring, to keep himself busy, Leo took classes to obtain a teaching certificate and became a substitute teacher at Makalapa Elementary School where Winnie still worked as the SASA (School Administrative Services Assistant) aka, the school secretary.
Upon Winnie’s retirement, they joined the Pearl City Dance Club.
They also joined the Cosmopolitan Senior Citizens Club and the Line Dancing Club at Waipahu Community Park
Enjoying retired life, they took numerous trips, among them several trips to Las Vegas; a ship cruise to Alaska's "Inside Passage"; traveled to Branson, Missouri, to see the Lennon Sisters; and traveled to Inland Alaska to see Denali National Park by train.
In 2007, at the age of 74, Leo welcomed the first of 4 great grandchildren.
From 2011 to 2016, Leo and Winnie were kept busy being full time babysitters for their two youngest great grandchildren. (Sophia and Mykel)
On February 22, 2020, Winnie, Leo’s loving wife of 62 years, passed away.
For the next 6 years of his life, Leo missed his wife dearly and prayed for her daily knowing that one day they would be reunited in Heaven.
On June 16, 2026, at the age of 92, Leo passed peacefully in his sleep, while in hospice, in the presence of this two sons, sister Claudia and other family members.
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