Bill, as he was later called, chose not to remain on the family farm, and in 1918 he is found employed at the Tacoma shipyard as a steam fitter helper. He registered for the draft in September  of  that  year [03] and  as  the  World
WILLIAM BROWN LEE
called East Bay Ornamental Iron. It was around this time that he separated from his wife Cordelia, with their divorce being finalized in 1955 [21]. Along the way, Bill formed a relationship with Catherine Wells who had lived only a few blocks away at the time. Catharine and Bill lived together in her home on 90thAvenue in Oakland and she was his non-spousal companion until he passed on many years later,

After retirement, Bill and Catherine acquired a second home in Angels Camp, located in California’s historic gold country. He developed a unique fishing bobber called the Sierra Float, and manufactured them at this location. It has been said that he later sold this invention to Sears & Roebuck.

On December 30, 1970, Bill Lee passed away in a Bay Area hospital and was laid to rest at Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward, California [22].
Born in 1898, William Brown Lee was William and Elvira’s sixth child and second son at that time [01]. Over the next decade, his mother would bear three more children, making him a middle child of nine [02]. Known as Willy, he and the other Lee children were educated at the Great Western School, a one room public schoolhouse about a mile north of farm, and when he was old enough, he attended the Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane as did his brothers and sisters.
William Lee, 1909

War continued on in Europe, he was summoned to serve in the SATC (Student Army Training Corps). The SATC was organized as a corps of the United States Army and was intended to mobilize and train  150,000 men between the ages of 18 to 21 years in preparation for wartime military service. The young men who enrolled were housed, drilled and given technical courses at local college and university campuses across the country and paid $30 a month, a private’s salary. On September 18, 1918, Bill reported for duty at Whitman College located in Walla Walla. Uniforms arrived a little later, and Bill had a portrait taken with his brother Frank who was a PFC in the Medical Corps at the time.

When the Armistice was signed in November which ended the war, the SATC was discontinued and its 150,000 participants disbanded. After only 10 weeks, Private William Lee’s brief service in the corps still qualified him as having served in the U.S. Army, and he received an honorable discharge [04].


Private Bill Lee, 1918
U.S.Census of January, 1920 finds the couple still living in Seattle, on 8th Avenue where Bill was employed as a garage mechanic [07], and during that same year, the couple moved to Stockton, California where Bill also found employment as a mechanic [08]. In that same year, their first child was born in Stockton [09] and named Stivers Louthan Lee after the surnames of Cordelia’s parents. Also in 1920, Bill filed for his first patent, a gas nozzle that stops filling when the tank is full [10].
The following year, Bill was working in Seattle where he met Cordelia Louthan, a waitress at a local eatery. After a brief courtship of only a few weeks [05], they were married at a local Congregational Church on June 12, 1919 [06]. The
Bill, Cordelia, Stivers, ca1921
At the end of 1921, the couple had another son, Stirling W. Lee [11], but he died in infancy. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to San Diego where Cordelia’s sister Martha was living, and there, in 1924, their third son, William Lee was born [12]. Bill and Cordelia Lee appear on the San Diego Voters list for 1926, where
they are living with Cordelia’s parents, Lillie and Wallace Louthan [13]. In the late 20’s, the family was living in Kansas City, but by 1927, they were  back in  California where
their first daughter, Dorothy was born [14]. The 1930 census finds the family renting a house on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland where Bill was employed as an electrician at a garage [15]. While in Oakland, daughters Ellyn was born in 1930, and Ethel in 1932 [16][17], each of them named for one of Cordelia’s sisters.
William Lee, ca1930
In 1934, Bill filed another patent for a carburetor adapter which was patented 3 years later [18]. In 1937, Bill applied for a Social Security number, and was living on  101st Avenue in Oakland at the time. He was employed by a real estate company and probably working in construction [19]. His daughter Dorothy relates many years later that, around this time, the family lived in a one bedroom house and the 3 girls and 1 boy slept in the bedroom while the parents slept in the dining room with a velvet curtain over the opening. Later, they had moved into a larger home on Sunnyside Street in Oakland [20].

Around  1950, Bill  started  his own business, an  ornamental  iron company
REFERENCES / CITATIONS
[01] 1900 U.S.Census, Spokane, Washington, Abernethy Precinct, June 23, 1900, Supervisor’s District No. 286, Enumeration District No. 47, Sheet No. 10
[02] 1910 U.S.Census, Spokane, Washington, West Spokane Township, May 20, 1910, Supervisor’s District No. 3, Enumeration District No. 130, Sheet No. 213A
[03] Registration Card, Sept. 12, 1918, Serial Number 888, Order No. 1944
[04] U.S.Veterans Bureau Military Sevice Record, No. 1780805, ent.9/10/18, dis.12/7/18
[05] My Conversation With Great Uncle Alvin Lee by Karen Fogg
[06] Marriage Certificate, William Brown Lee and Cordelia Viola Louthan, 12 June 1919
[07] 1920 U.S.Census, Seattle, Kings County, 8th AvenueWashington, Jan 8, 1920, Supervisors District No. 1, Enumeration District No. 238, Sheet No. 5A
[08] 1920 Stockton Directory, published by Polk-Husted, residence: 611 East Market Street, occupation: Mechanic
[09] Standard Certificate of Birth, County of San Joaquin, City of Stockton, Stivers Louthan Lee, born August 5, 1920
[10] Patent 1398868 Nozzle, application filed Aug. 3, 1920, patented Nov. 29, 1921, Seattle, WA
[11] Rootsweb California Records, Birth Records, Stirling W. Lee b.12/17/1921
[12] Rootsweb California Records, Birth Records, William F. Lee b.11/4/1924
[13] 1926 Voters List for San Diego (Ancestry.Com)
[14] Rootsweb California Records, Birth Records, Cordelia Dorothy Lee b.1/5/1927
[15] 1930 U.S.Census, Alameda County, California, Oakland Township, April 4, 1930, Supervisor’s District No. 8, Enumeration District No. 1-29, Sheet No. 4A
[16] Rootsweb California Records, Birth Records, Ellynn Lillian Lee b.10/16/1930
[17] Rootsweb California Records, Birth Records, Ethel Pauline Lee b.1/7/1932
[18] Patent 2072893 Carburetor Adapter, application filed Nov. 17, 1934, patented Mar. 9, 1937, Oakland, CA
[19] Application for Social Security, 548-18-7539, 1/12/1938, William Brown Lee
[20] Application for Social Security, 5528-30-7276, 11/2/1942, Cordelia Viola Louthan Lee
[21] Affidavit For Final Judgment Of Divorce, Superior Court Of The State Of California, Action No. 245250, August 5, 1954
[22] County of Alameda Death Certificate, State File No. 78-163144, Reg. Dist. 6018, Cert. No. 8031
Bill & Catherine, ca1950