Leland Donald Mackie passed away peacefully Oct. 21, 2011. He spent his final days in the comfort of his home with his wife, children and grandchildren by his side.

Leland was born July 27, 1928 to Donald and Elsie (Dahlman) Mackie in Everett. He spent his early years on South Whidbey with his mother and Grandma and Grandpa Dahlman at their Double Bluff farm.

When he was 3 years old his mother died and he then moved to Vancouver Island to be with his father who was logging there. In Canada, Leland attended a floating boarding school until his eighth grade of school. He then returned to Whidbey to help on the farm before moving with his grandmother to Langley until his high school graduation in 1946.

Following high school, Leland fished in Alaska for four years before his marriage to Eloise Melling, his high school sweetheart.

With the help of his father-in-law, they built the family home on Humphrey Road were they raised their three children and still reside today.

During the first years of their marriage, Leland fished, logged and managed the Clinton Shell gas station until starting his own heavy equipment business in the mid-1950s. After successfully operating his business for 17 years, Leland was hired by the Island County Road Department until his retirement in December 1990.

Being a true “Island” boy, Leland loved to fish, crab, hunt and work in his garden. In their retirement years, he and Eloise would head south with their RV to Arizona during the winter months and then to Spectacle Lake for fishing in the summer. A favorite pastime was “Kitchen-sitting”; drinking coffee, telling stories, debating and laughing with his buddies.

He will be greatly missed, but our family memories and his Mackie family history will never be forgotten.

Leland is survived by his wife, Eloise; son, Don and wife Paula of Clinton; daughter, Debbie and husband Happy of Freeland; daughter, Rita and husband Mike of Edmonds; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and half-sister, Donaldine Driskal of San Bernadino, Calif.

The family would like to thank Rene Yonker and the staff at the Whidbey General Hospitial MAC Unit, the nurses of Home Health & Hospice of WGH, Dr. Ann of Enso House for helping us to understand, and “our nurse” Rachel of Island Home Nursing for helping us to breath easier.

A celebration of life will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13 at the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club. Everyone is welcome. Memorial gifts may be made to any of the preceding organizations.