Lee R. Schoolcraft

Lee was born on March 22, 1936, in Edmonds Washington to Emmett and Hallie Schoolcraft.

He grew up in Manson, WA where he spent his summers barefoot and swimming in lake Chelan. In high school he loved and excelled in sports playing football, basketball, and baseball. He also was an avid water skier and later in life loved to play golf.

In 1959 he enlisted in the Navy and served on an LST #803 (Landing Ship Tank) for 2 years and traveled the world.

Lee met his beloved wife Jani at a sailboat race (with no wind) in 1961, and the rest is history. His son Marty was born in 1962 followed by Doug in 1965.

His family relocated to Yakima in 1963 and Lee worked at the Boise Cascade lumber mill where he was an Edgerman, then Sawyer retiring in 1988.

Lee always dreamed of being an architect, but as it often does, life got in the way. In about 1968 he drew a few house plans for a neighbor who was a carpenter. Without any advertising more and more people came to Lee to have him design their house or business until he essentially had two full time jobs.

He designed at least 5000 buildings, most in Central Washington but also all over the country. The company he started; Western Building Design is still going strong. Lee may be gone, but he made his mark and the buildings he designed live on and will be here well into the future. They are everywhere.

Lee was a big jazz music fan collecting many LP’s. He traveled to Dixieland Jazz festivals in the PNW every summer for 24 years starting in 1987 with his wife Jani, brother in law Don and friends.

In retirement, Lee started woodcarving as a hobby, mostly caricatures. He was quite talented and completed dozens and dozens of his amazing carvings, including a large “epic carving” of the Wizard of Oz with all the characters, including a castle and even the yellow brick road.

Lee loved his family and was a caring and devoted husband and father. He took his family on great, but simple, vacations all over the Northwest every summer which are fondly remembered. He was a Patriot and a man of honor, the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back who cared more about doing a great job than money.

Lee is preceded by his parents Emmett and Hallie and survived by many who loved and will miss him including his wife Jani, son Marty (Sue), son Doug (Kaite), grandsons Henry and Zeke, brother Earl (Rose), brother Terry (Marylou), sister Gerry (Doug) Kollmeyer, sister Vicki, brother-in-law Don Wheeler, Niece Teri (Peter) O'Leary, Nephew Brian (Necie) Wheeler, and many more friends and neighbors.

“Yo Bo”, we will miss you.

A celebration of life remembering Lee will be held Friday, December 2, 2022 at 2 pm at Keith & Keith Funeral home, 902 W. Yakima Ave., Yakima, WA.