Lyman C. McKee

Lyman was drafted into the Army while still a senior in High School, so off to training he went in 1944 and served at the end of WWII in Europe. He had dated Lola Phillips while in High School, and they married in September 1946 upon his return and lived in Des Moines, Iowa. He completed his GED before going to work for Meredith Publishing Company.

His 4 children were born in Des Moines, but a few months after the youngest was born, he and Lola bought a 160-acre farm south of Des Moines. Life was busy raising a family, working, and raising some livestock and a few crops on their hilly farm.

In 1967, they moved the family to an acreage just outside of West Des Moines. He continued to work for Meredith until he retired after 31 years. In 1978 he and Lola moved to Mesa, Arizona, where they bought a business, Scott Blueprint. Lyman had a sweet tooth and kept a stash of candy or cookies, whether that was as a teenager or in his vehicles as an adult. His Fig Newtons were safe from his kids as they didn't like them, but the lemon drops, well he probably found there were a few missing.

He loved to drive and travel. Family vacations were an annual treat, usually traveling through states west of Iowa, whether with an old tent or a pop-up camper. In 2015 his youngest daughter accompanied him on an honor flight to Washington, DC. He enjoyed visiting all the memorial sites. He especially enjoyed wearing his WWII hat and was proud to have served his country. He liked car shopping or kicking tires at the least. He liked them shiny and with plenty of power and he had big finned ones, push button transmission, and of course the stick truck we all learned to drive.

After retiring from Scott Blueprint in 1995, Lola and Lyman spent more time at their second home outside of Payson until 2012, when they returned to the Valley permanently. Lyman was content to putter around outside, drive his golf cart - he didn't need to play golf to have one - and to keep his tools organized.

Physically in good health, dementia curtailed his activities over the years. While math certainly was not his favorite subject, he enjoyed counting things. He enjoyed going to church and always told his daughters how many people were in attendance. Although robbed of his memory, he continued to enjoy the human touch, a wave or greeting, an extra cookie or two, and tried to be helpful to others.

Lyman died from complications of dementia on December 14, 2021. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Francis "Joe/Mac"(Wilma), Bill (Inez), Roger, Melvin (Dorie); sister Lucile (Art) Brown; brother-in-law John Anderson; sisters-in-law Theola (Spencer) Donner, Georgia Smith, and several nieces and nephews.

He is survived by his wife of 75 years, Lola, children, Beth (Stan) Houlette of New Virginia, IA, Paul (Debra) McKee of Mesa, AZ, Sarah jo McKee (Jim Mitchell) of Gardnerville, NV, and Madalyn (CE) Evans of Des Moines, IA; grandchildren Kevin (LeAnn) Houlette, Tim (Jen) Houlette, Emily (Stephen) Lozano, Phillip (Lexi) McKee, Jessica (Jeremy) Samuelson and Spencer (Paige Lee) Krohn, as well as 11 great grandchildren ranging in age from 1 month old to 25 years. In addition, he is survived by brother Larry (Ivy) McKee; sisters Maxine Anderson, Afada (Dwight) Silverthorn, Iola (Marvin) Chickering, Carlotta (Ken) Wilcox, sister-in-law Donna McKee, and many nieces and nephews.

Lyman is in heaven today singing "in tune" the hymns he enjoyed, and now he will remember by name those he has loved and those that have loved and cared for him.

A graveside service will be held in the spring in Mesa, AZ. Those wishing to make a donation in Lyman's name may do so to: www.Graceworksglobal.org or by mail to GraceWorks Global, PO Box 2099 Payson, AZ 85547

The family would like to thank all The Summit staff, including administrators, healthcare workers, cooks, servers and maintenance for his care these past three years. We also want to thank Ben Spears of Always Present Hospice for being such a compassionate caregiver, as well as a great communicator with the family.

A memorial service will be held at The Summit on January 12th at 1:30 PM