Elmer L. Lee passes away October 25, 2016, at Bell Tower in Merrill after a brief illness at the age of 95.
He was born May 5, 1921, in the town of Summit in Langlade County, Wisconsin, in a two-room log cabin to Archie and Elizabeth (Strobel) Lee. He met his wife Jeanette Yonke at a dance and after a five-year courtship, they were married on September 27, 1947. They just celebrated 69 years of marriage.
In his younger years, Elmer worked as a logger and truck driver for his uncle in Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan. On July 6, 1948, he began working as a truck driver for the Lincoln County Highway Department and retired 35 years later as a foreman. After a year, Elmer decided he wanted to go back to work because he said he was too young to sit around. He went to work for his brother-in-law Bill Burgener and worked another 12 years.
Elmer loved the Packers and Brewers. He like to fly fish and fishing of any type, hunting, woodworking, polka dancing, traveling and taking care of his two-acre garden. Elmer enjoyed going to Canada to fish and traveling to different states but his biggest joy was when he and Jeanette went to Alaska for their 50th wedding anniversary. Alaska was a place Elmer always talked about and wanted to see.
Elmer was a man everyone liked and he would do anything for you. People could never believe how old he was because his mind was so sharp and he could get around so well. As he always said, he had a good life. We will all miss those stories of the good old days, and he loved to talk about his grandkids and especially the three little great grandkids. He taught us all something to carry with us in our everyday life.
Elmer is survived by his wife, Jeanette; his daughters, Linda (Dale) Zastrow, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho; and Connie (Hugh) Lenox, Cambridge, Wisconsin; three grandchildren, Dean (Lynn) Zastrow, Jason (Megan) Londerville and Elizabeth Richter; and three great grandchildren, Jameson, Evadne and Dresden Richter; brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Elmer is preceded in death by his son, Gary; his parents, Archie and Elizabeth Lee; his in-laws, Ervin and Esther Yonke; three brothers, Herbert, Harold and Fay Lee; his sisters-in- law, Donna Petrowski, Dorothy Lee and Alice Lee; and his brother-in- law, Verlyn Yonke.
Elmer was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Merrill.
Visitation service will be held Friday, November 4, 2016, from 4-7 p.m. at Taylor & Stine Funeral Home, 903 E. Third St., Merrill. Funeral service will be November 5, 2016, at St. John Lutheran Church, 1104 E. Third St., Merrill, at 10 a.m. Burial will be at Luther Memorial Cemetery in Gleason, Wisconsin.
Elmer will be sadly missed by all, especially his family.
Online condolences may be made at www.taylorstinefuneralhome.com.