Leo Eugene Lambiel was born July 17th, 1942 to Leo & Marcialee Lambiel, in a small French hospital in Los Angeles, CA. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Arcadia, CA where Leo began his education.

Leo loved to read. When Leo was in second grade, he read a biography on Abraham Lincoln, and when he finished the book, he burst into tears because he was so very sad the story had ended.

At 16, his parents gave him a trip to Europe and this changed his life. Leo came home knowing he must see more of this “Blue Planet.”

After two years at Occidental College, he left school and hitch-hiked to New York City, where he took a job as a typist for a Math professor at Columbia University. Leo earned enough money for passage to Greece, and there he found home on the Isle of Rhodes in a small village called Lindos. He lived the life of a villager and drew his water from an Artesian well located in the village square. Many friends came to visit and enjoyed life with Leo, climbing the hills, swimming in the bays, as well as exploring Egypt, Turkey and Sudan.

With a Danish friend, Jorgen, Leo visited France, Germany and the UK. While in a bookstore in Paris, Leo met his soon-to-be-wife, Christy. They were married on a hill in Wales, then back to Lindos for another year. The USA was calling them home. They knew they wanted to live on an island. The islands of the Pacific Northwest sounded just right, and arriving on Orcas Island, they found home. Two little girls, Marcialee and Cynthia, soon arrived, and the family was complete.

On Orcas, Leo started as a jack-of-all-trades, doing whatever work was available to make a living, from ditch digging to logging to electrical work. He settled on electrical work and, for a time, was the only electrician on the island. He also built, managed and maintained the first apartment complex on the island. When the girls reached school age, the family moved closer to the school in Eastsound. A beach cabin was available with frontage, and they proceeded to enlarge the cabin, making it home. Sadly, in 1980, there was a divorce.

Leo ran 8 miles a day for over 15 years. He said that during the running was when the ideas were born. Leo continued to build, adding to his home to make room for his expanding collection of Island artists’ work. Creating and collecting were his passions. Artists who sculpted, painted and even builders, were welcomed. Soon there appeared a Greek temple, a Medieval grotto, a tile Salmon wall from beach to house and a Castle for a mailbox, etc., etc.

The community was curious and visited regularly to see what was new. Several neighbors suggested he give tours, which he was delighted to do. He was quite proud of the fountain he built at the entrance to his home, which was, at that point, really a museum. Leo’s museum home was an outlet for his prolific creativity, and the tours offered a way to share his passion with others. Tours became a regular occurrence. The travel club, “Roads Scholars,” visited each summer. Throughout the years, Leo received many notes and letters of thanks and appreciation from his visitors.

Leo lived a full and exciting life and possessed an understated generosity. When dining in a restaurant, he would often pay for other diners’ meals, telling the waitperson not to reveal the source.

A Celebration of Life will be held this spring on his beloved Orcas Island.

Leo was preceded in death by his parents and daughter Cynthia. He is survived by his daughter, Marcialee, his great-grandson by heart, Jack Fox Finnegan, and his companion, Elane.

Remembrances may be made to Camp Orkila or Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.

Unless I’m wrong

I but obey

The urge of a song:

I’m – bound – away!

And I may return

If dissatisfied With what I learn

From having died.