Obituary of Leon Dollinger
Leon Dollinger was born to a Jewish family in Augsburg, Germany on November 4th,1947. He passed away on March 25th, 2021 after many years of battling diabetes and numerous other ailments.
Leon had a difficult childhood and took his first opportunity to leave Germany, a country he had no love for. Though it led him down the wrong path with time spent in and out of prison, he still would go on to say later in life that he had a good life, with little to no regrets as he accepted, and moved past them. On many occasions, he did lament never meeting his grandchildren and missing the opportunity to connect with his beloved children.
He often spoke about the time he spent in California and his love of the ocean, how he loved Mexican food, “good Mexican food”, and how he missed living by the beach. His time spent in California were some of the best days of his life. He had a very refined pallet and would often talk of his love of porterhouse steak, fine cheeses, sourdough bread, and Columbian coffee. He wished that he could return to California, but in his situation, it was impossible.
Through circumstance, Leon ended up living the final years of his life in Toronto, Canada. Even though it wasn’t California he really grew to love the country and its people. He especially loved living in a Jewish community. He did not want to live anywhere else in Toronto because he loved being with Jewish people. Unfortunately, it was during this time that he lost his leg to diabetes and became dependent on his friends. He had been running his whole life and like he humorously said, ”I wouldn’t slow down so God took my leg.” Maybe in some ways it was a relief. When he lost his leg he was given a small amount of money to live on by the government and for the first time he said he felt like he could relax, slow down, and reflect. Despite his situation, he still liked to feel productive so he took a job delivering prescriptions for a pharmacy. In and out of the car on one leg. It wasn’t about the money. He did it because he needed to feel useful. He loved his apartment and learned to love living alone with friends visiting. Leon was a good friend. He was intelligent, mindful, kind, full of great advice, hilarious, endlessly interesting with stories of his wild adventures that were somewhat romanticized, but definitely worthy of the big screen. What a life. A very exciting, crazy, cool, tragic, sad, frightening life. But the one thing about Leon was the incredible strength and courage that he showed. Such a brave soul. Never a complainer, never a whiner, never a bad word for anyone. He faced endless hardships with dignity and grace. He was a bionic man, a man with more lives than a cat. He said he wasn’t bionic, just lucky, and asked how could he complain? He said he was the creator of his reality and he took full responsibility. Everything that happened to him he did to himself. He just took everything one day at a time with grace and courage. Let his grace and courage be a lesson for everyone.
Leon is survived by his son, Salomon Latoski, daughter, Sarah Jimenez, grandchildren, Elijah,Esmere and Ezra atoski, sister Sarah Kluy and many close friends. He will be deeply missed.
We invite you to share memories, photos and sentiments of his life here at his memorial web page.
Leon will be remembered in a Virtual Memorial to be held on Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time via the following Zoom Link. Guests desiring to atend are reminded to please have their device volume on high and to mute themselves upon entry to the event.
INVITATION
eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc. is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Remembering Leon Dollinger
Time: Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 4:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc. is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Remembering Leon Dollinger
Time: Saturday, Apr 10, 2021 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
CLICK HERE
NOTE: In an effort to unifiy us in absence of physical togetherness, we invite you to have an unlit candle present within your reach to light, as we light our own candle for Leon.
Meeting ID: 965 3634 9899
Passcode: 148966
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