[texbirds] Re: Lee Lemmons remembered
- From: Susan Yost <sdyost@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: chilesjack@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2013 08:45:16 -0500
Lee Lemmons was one of a kind. My fondest memory was: I had brought a group of
birders to Hagerman for the "tour" Lee was riding shot gun. His sister was
also along for the trip. As we drove around the refuge Lee also replenished
the maps as well as checked the ports-potties. We stopped @ the one near the
bridge and picnic area. Lee went in. Out he came "I dropped my keys in the
crapper" he said. So he had to hitch a ride on a passing front-end loader to
get back to headqtrs for a spare set. I don't think his sister ever let him
forget that day!! He was a gem and can now re-find that Ivory-billed
Woodpecker he saw so many many years ago. And don't forget the cookies;
home-made ones were always better!!!
Sue YOST ~^/^~
Highland Village
Denton Co.
On Jul 5, 2013, at 11:53 AM, Jack Chiles <chilesjack@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Lee Lemmons remembered
>
> I received word last month of Lee Lemmons recent passing at the age of 87.
> Lee will be remember by many of my fellow Texbirders for his weekly posts on
> Texbirds from 2002 to 2009 of the bird sighting on our weekly outing at
> Hagerman NWR. I was privileged to bird with him on a weekly basis for more
> than 20 years.
> About 3 years ago Lee moved to Moore, Ok. to live with his daughter. Lee's
> birding there was pretty much limited to going out with his son on Sunday
> mornings to a nearby lake. Shortly after moving there his son was killed in a
> freeway accident. This limited his birding to occasional walks. He then
> spent a lot of his time reading on a Kindle. He did not have access to the
> internet there so I pretty much lost contact with him. I could not talk with
> him on the phone because his hearing was too bad. He served his country as a
> signalman in the Navy in World War II and contracted TB while in India. The
> drugs they gave him for the TB is most likely what damaged his hearing. Near
> the end he became completely deaf and had to communicate with his daughter
> via notes.
> I visited recently with one of Lee's sisters, Imogene Smith, which related a
> lot of interesting stories about Lee. One story was about when he was
> performing his duties as a signalman in the North Atlantic. The seas were
> raging and his shipmates tied him to a post on the deck of the ship to keep
> him from being washed overboard so he could perform his signalman duties.
> Lee was born in Denison, TX. and returned there at the age of 58, after a
> career of teaching mentally challenged students in Oklahoma for 28 years. He
> was interested in politics and was instrumental in bringing about
> improvements in the teacher retirement system in Oklahoma. For these efforts
> he was recognized by the then governor of Ok. George Nigh with a special Lee
> Lemmons day in the state of Oklahoma.
> Upon his return to Denison he became involved in birding and fishing which is
> easy to understand because he had always possessed a love of nature. His
> interest in Hagerman NWR was probably due to the fact that one of his
> sisters, Nancy Poole, liked to bird with the Hagerman group.
> Over the years Lee related his fond memories of birding trips with Tom
> Johnson, Balmorhea State Park and Kelly Bryan, Ft. Davis and others
> including his friend Jim Pierce and Robert George. He made at least 2 birding
> trips to Mexico which he thoroughly enjoyed. He went on trips with his
> sister, Imogene, to Big Bend via the river road to Terlingua, New Mexico's ,
> Gila National Forest, Rustler's Park AZ and Cave Creek AZ. to see the
> hummingbirds and orioles. He especially enjoyed his trips to Balmorhea State
> Park, Bolivar Flats, Sea Rim and McFadden.
> Lee spent many hours on the Red River below the Denison Dam fishing and
> watching the birds there. He was a very good fisherman and loved to eat
> fried catfish. He also spent many hours birding with our good friend Karl
> Haller. They would often go the refuge on Sunday mornings in addition to the
> other regular trips to do the bird census.
> One great memory I have of Lee was his love of cookies and my wife's
> chocolate cakes. We had a tradition of breaking out the cookies when we
> entered the gate at Goode. If the cookies weren't forthcoming Lee would
> always turn around with his impish grin and enquire about the cookies.
> At the time of the recent tornado in Moore, Ok. Lee was in the hospital
> there and had heart surgery which led to complications with his breathing and
> later to his death. He will be sorely missed. I am thankful that he got to
> spend many years doing what he loved best.
> Jack Chiles, Texas Master Naturalist
>
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