Yes it's perfect

As written it is ok but if there were no parentheses, note that wife becomes wife's as possessive, not as 's = is ....his wife's leaving him and taking their children with her in April 2016

This is actually a gerund (a verb form which functions as a noun). ... the father was hurt by his wife's actions [actions = noun] ... the father was hurt by his wife's leaving him [leaving = gerund, him = gerund object] ... the father was hurt by his wife_ leaving him [leaving = gerund, him = gerund object] Both the possive form (his wife's leaving him) and the subjective form (his wife leaving him - as in the original question) are accepted. The possive form is somewhat formal and rare. The subjective form is more common. The wikipedia article on gerunds has information including possessive and subjective forms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund#Pattern_4b:_I_remember_her_coming.