Family was very important to Lee. He raised three children Michael, Laurel, and Jessica. He was very proud of his three grandchildren Elijah, Kyla, and Samuel (Bozarth).  Preceded in death by Michael, Lee went to be with his son a month after his passing. Lee, Lou, and Mike watch over the rest of the family from on high. 

Floren Lee Gould was born in Otero, Colorado on September 9, 1935 to Harvey and Mildred Gould (nee West).  Never really liking the old family name of "Floren", he preferred to go by "Lee."  Lee was an only child who helped out his family.  He had to help with family income at the age of 9 by delivering newspapers.  

Many did not know this, but Lee was a very talented musician.  He played trombone since a young child. Lee also learned some trumpet.  Later he taught himself guitar and banjo (following in the footsteps of his father, Harvey Gould who played in a band called the Rocketeers,  in Rocky Ford, Colorado).  Lee additionally had a deep bass singing voice, which he would croon along with Lucrezia as she harmonized.  While in the Navy and bored on duty, he taught himself how to play the harmonica. He favorite go-to songs were Big Band music classics.

Lee met Lucrezia on a blind date.  Lou always noted she remembered that she thought, "Oh, man, I got stuck with the kid!" Lee was very skinny and looked very young at the time. Lee pulled up in his little MG to a very rundown looking house in Black Oak, IN, and thought, "Who the heck lives here in this horrible place?," as it was a very poor home of a single mother (Mary Taylor).  Lee was so surprised, and stunned when he first saw Lou.  Despite the initial impression, they hit it off right away.  When Lee was ready to leave for the Navy, he told Lou, "I would never ask anyone to wait for me." She stubbornly replied, "Good. Because I'd never wait." (awkward silence...) "So...will you wait for me?" "YES!"  

Lee and Lou were married on a very cold day on January 4, 1958. The water pipes were frozen in the small church. Lou cried because the decorations were supposed to be salmon pink and black, but were orange and black, which she thought looked like Halloween.  Her wedding dress was too big, and Lee had to hold it bunched up in the back in all the photos. 

Through richer and poorer, sickness and health, they stood side by side until her passing in February 2011.  No doubt, they are dancing cheek to cheek to "In the Mood" and other heavenly played Big Band favorites.

Lee was a proud U.S. Navy Veteran.  He enlisted in 1955.  Lee noted he knew the Korean War, was still going on, but doesn't remember exactly when.  Lee served on the USS Piedmont in 1957.  His tour of duty included Hong Kong, Singapore, Kobe and Yokosuka, Japan. 

Lee shared the following, "When (I was in) La Jolla, CA and when we got off duty we had to wear uniform to get free bus pass to go to TJ (Tiajuana, Mexico).  I would take a change of clothes to change into before you go out to the bars." 

He loved to tell this story after he was discharged (honorably) and home.  One day when tensions with Cuba were high, my mom (Lucrezia) decided to wash his sea bag with all his Navy Uniforms in it. It was nice day, so she had them hanging up outside on the line to dry. As he was coming home from work, he saw all his uniforms and panicked! He thought he got called back up for duty! He pondered, "What if I just keep on driving?!"  He didn't of course.  But he shared he was relieved my mom had just decided it was a good wash day.

Later in life at 86 he enjoyed teasing the Army community in Fayetteville, NC.  He enjoyed going into the VA clinic, and loudly announcing he was Navy, just to see what reactions he could get.  When he finally got someone to poke back in fun, "Sorry, sir, you were in the wrong branch," he would laugh full heartedly. 

Lee was a hard worker and always had two jobs. He started working at the young age of 9 delivering newspapers.  After serving in the Navy, Lee went to trade school to become a draftsman. He worked for the East Chicago department of rehabilitation for over 20 years, from which he retired.  Lee additionally held a Realtors and Brokers license which he ran an independent business during the early 1990's.