He had only a high school diploma, but he taught himself to fly so he could become an airline pilot, he taught himself to draw blueprints and talk with engineers in order to become a builder, and he taught himself to read music so he could write songs (one was even picked up but not released by a country singer). Dad was a writer. He wrote very practical books on flying, but he also wrote poetry and enjoyed most writing limericks, like this one-

Keep “Em Guessin’

I always travel with a silly grin,
It makes folks wonder where I’ve been.
Wearing a smile where e’re I go,
Makes ‘em suspicious of what I know.

Bill Lee 

(You can still get his books on flight safety from sportys.com)  

Bill was an unselfish and very giving man, always ready to help others. Even after he was using a walker, his impulse was to try to get up quickly enough to open the door for others.

Bill was forgiving. There were a few occasions when someone would swindle or get it over on my folks but discussions of lawsuits or such always ended with Bill saying- “It’s only money- money can be replaced.” Bill was honest as the day is long. His word was his bond and even in the most difficult times he would not stiff another person. Once when he had been cheated out of a good deal of money and an attorney offered to help them with a bankruptcy to discharge the remaining debt which had been run up by another person, Bill refused saying he had given his word to his debtors and he paid it off as he rebuilt rather than take advantage.

This is a poem Bill wrote for Sharon when she had little girls:

A Sunbeam for Mother 

May this be a sunbeam
On a cold winter day
Love’s radiated gleam
From your girls at play.

 Take a moment to treasure
This bright ray of sun.
And value each pleasure
As compared to none.

                                       Bill Lee

January 2, 1951 - Bill and Donna's firstborn arrived, a bouncing baby boy according to projections of the doctor- but she turned out to be a girl. Sharon was Bill's new buddy. He woke her up when he came home from the Bakery late shift and they ate breakfast together before waking Donna.

June 22, 1953 -  Their second child really was a boy, William Arthur (named for his two grandfathers). He was Bill's pride and joy. As Art grew he became Bill's fishing buddy.

     

Bill enlisted in the Navy in 1948. It was not his best experience except for the guys he met, including the best man when he married Donna during leave in December 1948. He said that on returning to Wichita as he got off the train she was the best and prettiest thing he could imagine. He was afraid he would hurt her when he hugged her tight and knew then he could not be without her. 

They married during his leave (on December 23) and Bill had to go back to the ship 3 days after the wedding. Donna joined him soon in San Diego and they lived in the Admiral Hotel until they got into base housing. 

By 1950 the Navy was discharging many as the war was winding down after Bill was discharged the couple moved back to Wichita and Bill worked at the Rainbow Bakery.        

When he was about thirteen, his father remarried and Mary (Hudson) Lee wanted to re-unite the family. They moved to Wichita during the early days of the Second World War and Mary took a job in the airplane industry. Then they moved down the street from Donna Davis.


Bill walked past the Davis home to school and work and was noticed by young Donna. Once as they chatted on the sidewalk, she summoned the courage to ask if he wanted to attend a local youth club. That's all she wrote. They only had eyes for each other and were married four years later when Bill was on holiday leave from the Navy.  December 23, 2016 would have been their 67th anniversary.

Billy Jr. was the firstborn to Stella (Boyd) Lee and Willie Lee in April, 1930. He recalled helping his mother as being one of his many joys as a child. He helped her in the kitchen, helped her with his younger siblings, with the laundry and other chores.


Tragedy struck when he was ten years old and came home from school to find his younger brother, Bud saying "Momma is asleep." He went to the bedroom to find his mother on the floor. It was clear she was dead, so he sent Boyd, the second oldest to get help. As the oldest Bill grew up quickly. He and Boyd were tough and after his Dad married a woman not willing to bring up boys, they were sent to live with a cousin on a farm where they worked hard plowing, milking and otherwise covering as farmhands.