Arthur Lee

Arthur Edward Lee, Lt. Colonel USMC (Ret.), passed away on December 16, 1932, at the Washington Veterans’ Home in Port Orchard at the age of ninety-three. He leaves his wife Beverly, daughters Linda and Debra, grandchildren Taylar and Taryn, and several great and great-great grandchildren.

Art was a long-time resident of Snohomish and Whatcom Counties. He was born in Everett March 25, 1931, to Victor and Ivene Lee and grew up in Arlington with two older brothers, Vic and Jimmy, with whom he remained close all their lives. He graduated from Arlington High School in 1950 and attended the University of Washington where he pledged Phi Delta Theta. He then transferred to Western Washington College of Education where he played football and graduated in 1955. He married Beverly Jean Barr of Bellingham in 1952.

After graduation he enlisted in the Marines and made the Corps his profession, finally retiring in 1977. While a Marine, he served as a tank commander in Vietnam earning a medal for meritorious service. Later he commanded several base security units, managed security inspections, and consulted on new tank designs.

After his retirement, Art and Bev bought an RV and for twenty-five years traveled around the west from Bellingham to Arizona. They delighted in constantly meeting new people and making new friends and watching granddaughter Taylar compete in horse shows. While stationed on Oahu he bought a Honda Goldwing and rode it all over the island and, after he retired, all over the western United States. He was a popular speaker at local Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day events, and he ran for several public offices in the 1980s and 90s. He served as Post Commander for Bellingham American Legion Post 7.

Arthur was an avid runner, entering eight to twelve road races a year for thirty years in his retirement. In 2005, at the age of 73, he participated in Ski to Sea as a member of the Salty Seventies, a team whose average age was seventy-two and a half. After the race, he told a Bellingham Herald reporter “I feel better than a bear in spring time.” He finally hung up his Nikes at age eighty, but continued to walk one to two miles daily while carrying fifteen-pound weights.

Family and friends remember Art as an avid story-teller, regaling them with anecdotes about his childhood in Arlington, playing pranks with Jimmy and Vic, learning to shoot, fishing, and working in a local hardware store where he washed collected empty whiskey bottles from Arlington’s alleys, cleaned them, and filled them with kerosene. He also talked about his years in the Marines, where because of his football background he was “volunteered” to coach base football teams at several posts in Japan and the United States.

He saw every day as a time to enjoy God’s gift of life. Near the end, he told Bev, “We sure had fun, didn’t we?” He died as he lived, an officer and a gentleman to the end.

A celebration of life is being planned for later in the year. The family has asked that memorials be directed to the Washington Veterans’ Home, 1141 Beach Drive East, Port Orchard, WA 98366 (Checks made out to WVH).