Luther Lee Loudermilk was born June 17, 1927. On August 22, 2024 Lee went home to be with Jesus.

Lee was born and raised in Frankford, West Virginia, where he spent his childhood together with his 9 brothers and sisters maintaining the family farm. In 1946 Lee joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., where he met Dorothy Jane Carrington of Centralia, Wash. On March 21, 1948 they were married and had one child, Terry.

Lee had many talents and held a variety of jobs until in June of 1970 when the family opened Arcata Trailer Repair, where they serviced RVs. They did such good work that they had an article written about them in a publication of “Trailer Life” magazine. In 1971 the family began selling mobile homes and recreational vehicles under the name of Arcata Mobile Home Center Inc. until 2014 when they closed the business.

Lee began attending Trinity Baptist Church in 1954 and has been a faithful member ever since. Lee helped to literally build the second wing and also the current sanctuary of Trinity’s complex. Some of the positions Lee held at Trinity were Sunday School Superintendent for several years and Young Adult group leader, as well as Deacon.

Dad loved his family and his friends, being with them was important to him. He loved fishing, gardening, bowling, playing cards, and camping. He enjoyed traveling with his wife, especially in their travel trailer. He was a kind and gentle man, always with a smile and a cute sense of humor.

When we were planning the 50th anniversary party for Lee and Dorothy, Jan (Debbie’s sister) was trying to recreate a cake like their wedding cake. While Dorothy was describing it, Lee reached into his wallet and pulled out a picture of them and the cake and one of the silver leaves from the cake!

Outside of work Lee enjoyed many activities. Camping in his travel trailer with family and friends was one of these activities. Terry remembers one camping trip at Klamath where there was dad and mom, myself and my wife, and three other couples, each of us with our own travel trailer. There was an unexpected downpour of rain. The RVs were parked in a circle among redwood trees. Within minutes Dad got out tarps and ropes and covered the area between the RVs with the tarps, so that we had a dry area in which to visit.

Lee also enjoyed gardening and canning. One summer he planted an abundance of beets. When it came time to can them, his sister Ruth and her husband Curtis along with Terry and Debbie made a production line to can a total of 103 quarts of beets, all in one day. Needless to say, beets were not planted for the next two years. Another canning adventure also involved Ruth and Curtis, Terry and Debbie, their son Bryan, and 300 pounds of Albacore tuna. A real production line was set up with Terry showing Bryan how to clean and fillet the fish. Mom, Ruth and Debbie stuffed the fish into jars while Lee and Curtis maintained the pressure cookers. If I remember correctly the process began at 8:00 am and finished about 7:30 pm.

Some of those camping trips with the RV went to Trinity Lake and Ruth Lake where the goal was to fish. Lee liked to fish the little creeks feeding the lake. After a successful early morning outing, we would have fried potatoes, eggs, and fried fish- yum!

Another activity Lee enjoyed was softball, fast pitch softball. His church joined a league in Arcata, which was active for several years. His position was catcher. When that league dissolved, the church joined a slow pitch league in which Lee also played catcher.

Traveling with his RV was something Lee also enjoyed. He and Dorothy took their RV on a cruise ship to Alaska, then traveled home making fishing stops along the way. They also made three cross country trips with the RV to the family home in Frankford, West Virginia.

Playing cards, Pinochle mostly, was a winter time activity. Many a Friday night were spent playing Pinochle with a large pot of homemade chili simmering on the stove just waiting for anyone who might want some. Some Friday nights there would be 8 or 12 people playing cards. I remember one New Years Eve where card games and board games were played until daybreak.

Lee also had a very active sweet tooth. He loved his sweets as you can see by the picture above. If he wasn’t all that hungry, he would just go for the dessert and skip the main course. Even if he was hungry, he might have some dessert first and the main course second. At church potlucks, he would load up first with desserts, so he would be sure to get some of the best desserts and get the basic food.

We want to thank Susan “Sam” Minton for the very special relationship she had with Lee for the past several years. She loved Dad, took care of him with all of his idiosyncrasies, and provided heart-felt care in Dad’s last days.

To all of the doctors, nurses, and aides involved with Dad’s care we give a big thank you. To the Palliative Care team at St. Joseph Hospital, we cannot express how much we appreciate the advice and love we received from you.

To the Hospice of Humboldt organization, you have a beautiful facility only to be outshined by the staff, nurses, and aides working there. You are a special group of people, thank you.

Thank you to the many brothers and sisters in Christ who have been and are praying for us.

Lee is survived by his brother Wallace, his only child Terry and his wife Debbie, three grandsons (Brandon, Bryan, and Geoffrey) and four great grandchildren (Claire, Patrick, Lorenzo, and Sebastian).

In lieu of flowers we would appreciate donations to Hospice of Humboldt.

A celebration of life service will be held at Trinity Baptist Church, Arcata, California, on September 21, 2024 at 2 p.m.