James "Lee" Wilcox

James “Lee” Wilcox, Jan. 24, 1924 – Sept. 10, 2019. Lee was born in Alger, Mont. to Roy and Mary Wilcox. He was the youngest of three sons.

In 1942, at the age of 18, he joined the Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders Union and worked in the Seattle shipyards for one year. He spent the next few years at various mechanic and laborer jobs, some with his brother John in Montana. In 1950, he joined the Operating Engineers Union and worked as a heavy-duty equipment mechanic until his retirement in 1986.

He married Beverly Gilliam on June 28, 1952, in Four Lakes, Wash. where they raised five childre...