Dean Donald Lee

DEAN LEE December 2, 1941 ~ January 30, 2015 A Passion for Mountains, Trails, and Mazamas Dean D. Lee of Portland, OR died peacefully after succumbing to complications of dementia on Fri., Jan. 30, 2015. He was 73 years old. Dean was born Dec. 2, 1941 in Detroit Lakes, MN to Willard and Evelyn Lee. He was the first born of identical twins - with his brother Dale being the second born twin. After high school graduation, Dean proudly served in the U.S. Navy for three years as a Morse Code radio operator. He then graduated from St. Martin's University in Lacey, WA with a degree in Accounting and retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 2003. Dean was an active mountain climb leader and hike leader with the Mazamas - a 120 year-old mountaineering organization based in Portland. When Dean joined the Mazamas in 1991 at the age of 50, he discovered a passion for mountain climbing. He kicked his smoking habit and dove deeply into climbing. As a climb leader, Dean loved filling his climbs with the maximum amount of 12 people and getting them all to the summit of Northwest mountains such as Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer and Mt. Jefferson to name a few. He was especially careful in always having half of his climbs filled with women as he thought it made the team dynamics more fun and encouraged women to climb. Dean's climbs and climbing education classes were legendary for their bonding and fun adventures. Dean enjoyed numerous trips with friends that involved climbing, hiking and trekking in Mexico, the Swiss, French and Austrian Alps, Nepal, Tibet, Scotland, Tanzania and the Dolomites. Fun and laughter seemed to always follow Dean. When climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Tanzanian porters gave Dean the nickname of "Simba" which means lion in Swahili. Every morning he was awakened by the porters yelling out, "Coffee Simba?" Dean is survived by his wife, Megan Johnson; his first wife, Ella, and their sons, Michael, Darren, and Steven; his brother, Dale (Susan); his younger sister, Judy (Jim); and his younger brother, David (Kim); three grandchildren from Darren and Jodi Lee's marriage, Haven, Gabriel and Ciena; and many nephews and nieces. Dean's parents and one younger brother, Robert, preceded him in death. A private burial service is to be held in Vancouver, WA. A Celebration of Life will be held from 3p.m. to 7p.m. at the Mazama Mountaineering Center on Sat., Feb. 7th, 2015, located at 527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, OR 97215. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to the Mazamas. Please sign his guest book at: www.columbian.com/obits.

Dean Donald Lee

December 2, 1941 - January 30, 2015