Walter Donald Lee

Walter D. Lee “Lefty” passed away on March 11, 2019, in Easton, MD, at age 94. He was born on March 2, 1925, and grew up in Cumberland, MD with his parents, Alexander Lee and Mary Ann Sloan Lee, and his older sister, Lois Lee Frauchiger. He attended and graduated from Allegheny High School in 1943 following a stellar high school athletic career in baseball and basketball. Following high school, he enlisted in the Army during WWII, where he was ultimately assigned to the U.S. Signal Corps as a Pigeoneer in the South Pacific. He gathered reconnaissance on Japanese locations and troops, which he delivered to command via homing pigeons in New Guinea, Luzon and Leyte. After the war, Lefty returned to home to Cumberland, where he met future wife, Kathryn Yankie Lee. Following marriage, he completed both undergraduate and graduate degrees in History and Curriculum and Supervision at the University of West Virginia. Walter held teaching and coaching positions in Allegheny, Washington, and Frederick Counties. He helped establish new sport athletic teams while teaching at Hancock High School. Also while there he took his history students to the C&O Canal where they met and walked the canal with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Earl Warren, who was hiking the canal. Lefty was very involved in Boy Scouts and served as the Director of the Sinoquipie Boy Scout reservation for six years in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and assisted with Scout Troops in Frederick and Washington Counties. He mentored Scout Troop #278 in Braddock Heights and joined them in many camp outs and hikes. While teaching in Frederick County, he assisted in the creation the Frederick Teen Center. During his teaching career in Frederick County, he taught History and Physical Education at various schools including Elm Street, West Frederick, Middletown, Jefferson, and Wolfsville. He was a lifelong active member of Calvary United Methodist Church in Frederick. Lefty was also a lifelong naturalist, historian, and craftsman. He wrote a special thesis in graduate school on the spies and reconnaissance of the Civil War. He loved backpacking and hiking throughout the Appalachian Mountains, traveling and exploring, and entertaining family and friends. He built the family’s home of 60 years in Braddock Heights. He was an avid model railroader and built a detailed model railroad, modeling the Western Maryland Railroad. He loved history, birding, trains, dancing, big band swing music and storytelling. He was married to wife “Katie Lee” for 73 years, and had three children. He is survived by his children, D. Gary Lee of AZ, Alexa Lee of Chestertown, MD, and Ron Lee of Easton, MD, and their families; including six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his sister, Lois, in March 2018, and his wife, Kathryn, in October 2018. A service celebrating his life will be held at 11 AM, on Sunday, May 19, 2019, at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A, 200 S. Harrison St., Easton, where friends may call from 10:30 AM – 2 PM. We invite all family, friends, and former students to join in and share stories honoring his life. Memorial contributions may be made in his honor to the C & O Canal Trust, 1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100, Hagerstown, MD 21740.

Walter Donald Lee

March 2, 1925 - March 11, 2019