Clarance "Lee" Dodge

Lee overcame an extremely difficult childhood in Idaho to become a well-respected and well-loved man. Lee joined the US Navy when he was only 17 and served 3 years, 6 months on the USS Princeton, an aircraft carrier in the Korean Conflict. Discharged in March of 1954 he traveled to Ponca City, OK where his mother was living at the time. There he met and married Joyce Dodge, his wife of 56 years, who preceded him in death. The couple had their first child Leanna Dodge (Van Eman) in 1960 and in 1961 moved to Tulsa. They had their 2nd daughter, Carol Dodge that same year. In 1963, Lee and Joyce lost a baby after only 2 days of life, a son, Stanley Dodge. In 1968, Danny Dodge was born, and the family was complete. Over the next few years, Lee had many different jobs, eventually going to work for Chick Norton Buick where he learned to do front-end repair. In 1973, he opened and ran a successful Texaco station where he repaired cars in the garage, pumped gas out front, and met everyone with a smile. In 1976, sensing that the service station industry was changing, Lee sold the station and started his own automotive repair shop, Lee Dodge Automotive, and he was successful there as well. He was considered a rare breed - a good mechanic with good men working for him and honest, never performing work that did not need to be done. Lee worked hard and put both of his daughters through college and helped Dan in his music career and later in his carpentry trade. In 1992, Lee retired from the repair business, but it was only a few months before he was back working. He drove school buses for both Jenks and Union school systems, he worked as a Mall Santa for several years, including two years at Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa. He delivered newly completed school buses to school systems around the country, and later opened his own small business doing small engine repair. He was not one to sit around and do nothing! Lee also loved his hobbies. He was an avid fisherman for many years, but it was too slow for him eventually and he was introduced to riding bicycles. He would ride for hours, many miles a day just for fun. He rode on Free-Wheel Oklahoma, the ride from the Texas border to the Kansas border, many times, rode in RAGBRAI "The Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa" and more. He learned to ride a motorcycle and rode all over the US. He became an actor, performing for many years in "The Drunkard" the long-running melodrama put on by the Spotlight Theater, as well as regional theater and in "Oklahoma!" at Discoveryland. He learned to clog dance and danced for many years with an area dance troupe. Lee became a Christian in the 1960's and later rededicated his life to Christ in 1996 and became an active member of Fellowship Bible Church. He loved his Savior and spent time in bible study, in prayer and Christian fellowship. He later said that looking back over his life, he could see how the Lord had been directing his steps, and that what he thought at the time was just luck was actually a blessing from the Lord. Lee began to suffer from dementia in 2013, and by 2017, he was confined to the memory unit at the VA home in Claremore. He died from pneumonia in the VA hospital in Muskogee. At both facilities, he received the best of care from wonderful, caring people. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the VA home in Claremore or to Fellowship Bible Church in Lee's honor. Funeral service will be 2:00 P.M., Sunday, December 2, 2018 at Fellowship Bible Church, 5434 E. 91st, Tulsa, OK. Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233

Clarance "Lee" Dodge

May 18, 1933 - November 27, 2018