- Date Of Birth: April 19, 1934
- Date Of Death: October 6, 2022
- State: Idaho
Lee Merle Lent and his twin sister, Leona Pearl, were born to parents George and Hazel (McCoy) Lent in Marion, OR, near Salem, in April 1934. Having a wombmate meant he always had a playmate. The two were close, especially toward the end of her life.
Being a post-depression, World War II child, Lee knew privation. He told of walking the streets of Salem, OR, in black-out conditions; having many foodstuffs rationed; helping the neighborhood milkman deliver milk from a truck with no engine, because the engines had been requisitioned for the war effort, and the truck pulled by a horse, that knew the route perfectly. Lee would be thrilled when the milkman would give him a few cents to buy a hamburger, which he didn’t get much of during the war because of rationing.
Sadly, Lee’s parents divorced when he was young, so he did not really know his dad until he was 18. His mother loved her kids but had a tough time providing for them, so Lee and his siblings spent some years in foster care. They were all eventually returned to live with their mother. He was the most influenced by a Seventh-day Adventist Christian family who farmed east of Woodburn, OR. Those five, or so, years there helped form Lee’s strong work ethic. His motto was if you need more money, get another job or a different one. At one time in his life, when he was helping to raise three of his nephews, he had three jobs at the same time.
Lee’s early schooling was at several different elementary schools in the Salem and Monitor, OR areas. High school found him at Cascade High School, in rural Marion County, and Salem High School.
After high school, Lee worked at several car dealerships, auto parts stores, and fuel delivery businesses. He knew cars and trucks! It was during this time that he proudly joined the national guard and married his first wife and mother of his son, Stuart. Lee eventually completed two years of active duty in the Army at Fort Knox, KY, and Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. He loved his military career, having attained the rank of Sgt., and had his wife been agreeable, would have become a lifer. In 1963, Lee went to work for UPS and enjoyed his long routes out in the countryside between Salem and the Cascade Mountains.
In 1970, Lee began driving 18-wheelers, which he had longed to do for some time and met Lynne Wade, in Woodburn, OR. They were married in August of 1972, after she convinced him Idaho was a much nicer place to live than rainy, western Oregon.
Lee worked for several companies in OR and ID including Petroleum Transport; Darwin Feller Trucking, where he met his buddy of 50 years, Danny Bow; owned his own truck for a few years; Northwest Agricultural Co-op; Flegel Trucking in central OR; and American Fine Foods, which is now Libby, where his career ended in 2001. However, he drove seasonally for some years after that, for a total of 38 years of accident-free driving.
While Lee only has one biological son, he has a chosen son that he and Lynne adopted in 1989, David “JR” Lent. Through him came a grandson, David, and great-grandchildren, Dallas, and Rhett.
Lynne retired in 2008 from a teaching career and for seven years, she and Lee were blessed with travelling the U.S.
That same year, Lee and Lynne were baptized and reborn into God’s family through the salvation offered by Jesus Christ’s redemptive blood.
Lee loved!
Lee was preceded in death by his parents. He was the second of his five siblings, only survived by his eldest brother, Frank Burton Lent. Preceding him in death were brothers, Kenneth and Alfred, and sister, Leona Lent Harper; sister-in-law, Shirley Lent; brother-in-law, Joe Harper; brother-in-law, Larry Belk; brother-in-law, Russ Wade; sisters-in-law Judy Hojsack and Carilyn Smallwood; grandparents and his in-laws, Richard Wade and Dana Short; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
“Wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for my dad.”
“Lee will be missed for a long time, as he was like another dad to me.”
“Uncle Lee was a good man, I’m happy to have known him, but sad he’s gone.”
“He was a wonderful, kind person that will be missed greatly.”
“He was definitely one-of-a-kind and I’m sorry we didn’t get to see him before he passed.”
“We’ll miss Lee terribly.”
“I am forever grateful for the years I have known Uncle Lee.”
“Uncle Lee was a really good man with an amazing, vibrant soul.”
“Love you Uncle Lee!
