It is with great sadness and gratitude that we farewell Leighton Smith, a Little Brother, who arrived in Australia in 1950 with the Big Brother Movement.

I last had the pleasure of his wonderful company at the Adelaide reunion in 2018, and it was a privilege to share a story and laugh. He was such a nice man – very gentle with a lovely sense of humour. I liked him so much, and he will be greatly missed.

We thank his widow, Rosemary Filewood, for a generous gift towards our “Little Brother Scholarship”, in recognition of the assistance her late husband received from the Big brother Movement when he moved to Australia. Leighton and Rosemary read with interest the stories of some of our young scholars who have benefited both in their careers and in their contribution to their communities from the scholarships.

Right up to his death last month Leighton was still in regular contact with “his Big Brother family”, a brother and sister who were the children of Leighton’s “Big Brother”, John Leach.

Rosemary generously shares with us Leighton’s memoirs of a life that touched so many.

I hope you will join me in reading and in remembering this great man.

Memoir of Leighton Smith

Melanie Stray,

CEO BBM Youth Support

 

19th September, 2019