Kind man's boots to fill

A Paean to Uncle Lee

The boots above are now worn by Dee Dix. Some may have noticed her wearing them. They are a man's boots, belonging to our late Uncle Lee, R. Leland Dix. As his guardian at the end of his span, his goods were collected and brought here, to the raccoon district home.

Much has been written here, but nowhere near enough, about this great man. But last night when in the bathroom, where Dee had removed his boots, I brought out the new camera from Lee's nephew, Les, and took a picture of those boots as they lay, unposed, as I found them.

They have been kept polished and are worn proudly by a woman whose feet accomodate the shoe size but more significantly whose heart matches Uncle Lee's, a woman who was there for Uncle Lee's final chapters of life, was there when we took the pictures of his habitual raising himself to attention when the colors passed by at local parades. His knees were gone, the bones ground together, but in his American Legion cap - always worn on Memorial Day - he faithfully got himself standing to salute when the flag went by.

Lee was a member of the First Methodist church here in Waukesha. Above, readers will find a message from the June 13, 1943 church bulletin there, a memento of ours now. Uncle Lee kept in touch with his church and family from his station in a Navy field hospital base on the island of New Guinea, by victory mail, those light-weight onion-skin mailings of WW II.

After the war Lee returned to Waukesha where he lived his life, married for the long haul to his beloved wife, Frances. People remember him as one of the kindest men they ever met. Our son is named after him. He never had children of his own, but was like a father to me, and to his late step-son, David C. Craigmile. See: http://raccoonnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-old-days.html