Father Leon Anderson is a survivor. The Oblate priest celebrates 40 years of priestly life this year.
It is a milestone he nearly did not reach by around 19 years.
In August 1993, he survived a near-fatal car accident while returning from celebrating Sunday Mass at St John’s in Erica, an outstation of St Kiernan’s in Moe, Victoria.
His car skidded on a wet road and hit a tree. Fr Leon then spent the next two years in intensive rehabilitation programs.
Eventually, he made a remarkable recovery and was well enough to work at St John Vianney’s in Springvale North and later Our Lady of Lourdes in Lesmurdie, Western Australia.
He was ordained in the then-new Oblate parish of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Sefton, New South Wales, on December 8, 1972. He was the first priest to be ordained at the parish.
Born in Sydney in 1946, Fr Leon was educated by the Christian Brothers at Strathfield. He completed his secondary education at Chanel College in Geelong, Victoria while also attending the nearby Oblate Juniorate at Lovely Banks.
In 1965 he entered the Oblate Novitiate and began studying at St Mary’s Seminary in Mulgrave the following year.
Following his ordination, Fr Leon worked for two years at St Kieran’s in Moe, Victoria, followed by a 10-year stint at Eagle Junction in Queensland where he worked predominantly with youth.
In 1985 he was sent to Lesmurdie in Western Australia where he worked for three years as assistant priest at the former Oblate parish of Our Lady’s.
n 1988 Fr Leon was appointed parish priest of Kalamunda in Western Australia where he stayed until 1992.
Fr Leon retired in 2011 to the Little Sisters of the Poor home in Glendalough.