Lee Cunningham-Wood

Lee Cunningham-Wood passed away on November 5, 2020, after a 2-year struggle to overcome damage resulting from heart-attack events. Lee was born in Spokane, WA, to Helen C. Cunningham and Minor P. Umberger, and was the eldest of four siblings. Preceding her in death were her parents, sisters Mary Judith and Elinor Louise, and brother Minor Paul. In much younger days and differing life events, Lee was also known as Doris (Dorie) Umberger, Kleinsasser, and Hunter.

As the great-granddaughter of a suffragette, granddaughter of a fire and brimstone Baptist minister, and daughter of an automobile-owning, college-degreed Flapper, Lee loved discussing all things theology and politics. Known for welcoming missionary, Evangelical, and political visitors into her home for a chat, Lee often made new friends or had a big red "X" placed over her house to stop future visits.

Lee lived independent-minded, unapologetic, and forward-moving. She was a wife and mother, single-mother, a professional Designer Drafter, and Archaeologist creatively specializing in Historic Masonry (who knew mortar could be so interesting). Her professional life began when she earned her Electro-Mechanical Drafting Certificate from Lake Washington Vocational Technical Institute (1978) and proceeded to work for ASTEC, TRAMCO, and Boeing at Paine Field, Everett, WA. Upon retiring, she entered the world of Cultural Resources Management, working and volunteering for the Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service. In her second retirement, Lee excelled in reading books (those on real paper), surfing the net, creating excruciatingly long passwords (later needing help to use), performing research, and keeping up with politics.

Lee had been in and out of hospice care, though she had hoped to live until she was 103, she passed away on her terms, in her home, loved by the people taking care of her, with her daughter holding her hand. She is survived by her sons Kurt Benjamin, Kevin Peter, Matthew Keith, Michael Andrew, daughter Dinah Lynn, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Lee was a private person who did not want the attention or the difficulty a service could bring to those she loved; it was Lee's wish that there be no service after her passing.