Born into the Haycox U-CanIt Cannery in Longview, WA, my older brother Lee probably couldn't remember a time when he wasn't there. Lee was a team player in that cannery where folks brought their produce from their victory gardens to be canned. Lee was string, coordinated and had a brain that could handle many jobs at once. Dad could trust him to do everything. Lee gained confidence, became innovative and creative, and had a can-do kind of spirit which is what Dad instilled in him. Dad was an entrepreneur with jams, canned beef, sausage, hams, smoked beef heart, smoked fish of all sorts and too many things to name. Lee would have said only good things about that cannery unlike brother Bill and our mother who hated the place.

Our family had a Bay Place outside of Olympia where we went every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There, Lee hung out with the men doing men projects: barbecuing, lighting Dad's commercial fireworks, and boating. He was part of the men's team.

After graduating from the brand new Mark Morris High School in 1965, he tried Lower Columbia College, only to find he wasn't so much interested in more school and so off to the Navy he went during the Vietnam war. He chose submarines. He could recite details of those subs that would boggle your mind. The Navy didn't fulfill their promise to him and so Lee wanted out. The Navy bureaucracy didn't share Lee's viewpoint of his contract and so he languished on the base on Okinawa. Mom sent a letter to our Senator and that politician got Lee out of that contract in 1971. Lee went on a buying spree and brought home a blue Datsun 240Z, high end stereo equipment, and Mikasa dishes. There is a theme here: sports cars, electronics and food.

Eager to get on with life, Lee lived initially with brother Bill and his wife Mary Ann. Bill counseled Lee to join a church group for single adults. Eureka! There was Mary Patricia Norton, a perfect match and off to life they jumped in 1972. There was such joy, humor and good will flowing all around these two. No matter the news, they were able to find the lightness. It is easier to bear heavy things if you can find the light. Their good love flowed generously downhill, spilling everywhere, and without care.

Back to school Lee went, headed toward accounting at UW because of his strong math skills, while Mary was a buyer for Sears and Roebuck. He graduated, got an accounting job and the production of children began.

Creating food was always an interest, especially given our father's propensities to create any and all foods in that cannery and locker plant with a commercial smoker. You can see that Lee came by this food interest naturally. Mary brought her college degree, Gourmet Magazine and her inclination to this endeavor with full force. I expected one of those boys to become a gourmet chef.

Unlike our Dad, Lee was an evolved and involved father. Mary and Lee were a team, first, last and always. Lee would do as he was directed, making jokes all along the way but always completing the work. Team spirit. He would pull apart computers and put them back together as a family project. They would buy computer components and build a computer from scratch as a family project. They would install bigger and bigger and bigger TV screens for the home theater experience while we watched TV on a tiny screen. Their home was a marvel for us and our children. I expected one of those boys to go into computers.

Lee was an accomplished story teller. He was a consummate barbecuer. Lee was the best kind of brother, generous, kind, funny, interesting, enthusiastic, hard working, loyal, well researched, and technically sound.

Lee, I just thought you would be here longer. To retell all those family stories with your fine memory and quick wit. Laughing with you was a fine art. I can feel your smile on all of us. Right now, I envision your spirit sitting beside Mary, going nowhere, but being by your love.