Obituary: Hooker, Leroy Edwin
He was a career soldier, having served 23 years of active duty in the Army.
He was awarded the Purple Heart in 1967, for having been shot in Vietnam.
He was a quiet man about his feelings and experiences, but in talking to him for any length of time, you knew the tough façade was nothing more than that.
He worked several security jobs in California after retiring from the military, and loved to fish off the coast for whatever he could catch; usually a shark.
He was also a bit of a sharpshooter, and an avid black powder gun enthusiast, having shot a buffalo with a single shot.
Lee is preceded in death by his wife of 27 years, Arlene Grace Hooker, 2011.
He is survived by stepdaughter Debbie Smith, son-in-law John O’Brien, and grandsons, Max and Bergen Smith-O’Brien.
Lee also leaves behind his buffalo hunting partner, Randy Witters, of Crowley Lake, California.
Upon Lee’s request, he will be interred at the Veteran’s Cemetery, in Medical Lake, Washington, along with his wife, Arlene.
There will be no services.