1 week Ago
One of the biggest memorials to anyone, anywhere, is currently alight each evening in Centralia. The beautiful Christmas lights at Fort Borst Park are, to me, a perfect homage to the man who created that display more than a dozen years ago and who continued to help bring it to life every year with his quiet, steadfast show-up-and-work spirit. Lee Coumbs turned 82 on Friday, the day this year’s Borst lights display was turned on for the year.
Lee died a few days later from complications of bladder cancer. Family and friends surrounded him as he left us on Monday afternoon. He was cogent and his typical delightful self up until his final days.
I was able to see that in person. On Friday I received a call from his wife, Bonnie Canaday, saying Lee was nearing the end. I turned my car around and went straight to their home in north Centralia, where I spent the evening alongside others who loved Lee.
He talked with us as best he could, telling jokes and sharing ideas that continued to come to his mind about how to improve the community. I sang him a song he enjoyed (“The Geoduck Song,” a goofy tune born on the shores of Puget Sound) and all of us sang him Happy Birthday. “I should have tenure by now,” he joked as we saluted his 82 years.
He smiled and laughed. We did too. Even as we knew he was on his deathbed, it’s always been hard to stay gloomy around Lee.
While he could certainly be serious — he was a dedicated and thoughtful public servant, having served as Centralia mayor, as a leader of creating Riverside Fire Authority, and so many other civic ventures — he was quick to add a lighthearted turn whenever he could. He made working hard for your community a lot of fun. What a gift that spirit is.
What a gift he was. One of the many moving homages to him online this week came from Spring Youth Fair Chair Ashley Hamilton. “You will forever be remembered as being genuine, kind, loving, caring, supportive, a role model, a giver, a servant, a wise elder, a teacher, your nicknames of Father Fair & Fair Grandpa, and of course being a little stubborn but in all the right ways,” Hamilton said in her long and moving post .
Other tributes captured how he made little things special. Peggy Erven said Lee once worked for a full year with all the local banks to pay every one of the Youth Fair premiums in two dollar bills . Her family still has theirs.
Lee was still active until the end. He spoke at the opening ceremonies of the Southwest Washington Fair this year. He and Bonnie took two cruises as autumn began.
Lee was blessed with two beautiful marriages over his lifetime. He and his first wife, Marty, were wonderful partners. I remember them working together at their Sausage Haus restaurant in the Fairway Center and their stand at the Southwest Washington Fair.
After her death, Lee married Bonnie. They had worked alongside each other for years on the Centralia City Council and other ventures. They had eight great years of travel and love after their wedding (they turned their ceremony into a public party, complete with a band, in George Washington Park).
Lee was a patriarch in the best sense of the word: A strong, wise father who gave life to generations of faithful family. He and Marty had two daughters, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren (so far). He was a loving stepfather to Bonnie’s two children and considered her seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren his own.
How to remember and honor such a man? First and most important is to find your own way to serve and lead. Not all of us have the sheer capacity and vision to build up our community in as many ways as Lee did, but all of us can find something we love and show up to help. You’ll be amazed and what happens when you do.
And there’s another idea, too. Like Lee, it’s visionary and a lot of fun. But I’m out of room.
We’ll get into that, and more treasures from Lee’s rich life, next week. What are your favorite memories of Lee Coumbs? Send them to [email protected] .
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