Chester Martin Lee, Jr.

Chester Martin, Lee, Jr. was born December 22, 1920 in Cleveland, Oklahoma. He was the son of Chester Martin Lee, Sr. and Alpha Lee (Boyd) Lee. Martin was raised and received his education in Cleveland.

Martin was married to Elnora L. Tompkins on July 6, 1938 in Cleveland, Oklahoma. The couple initially moved to Illinois when Martin began working in the oilfields. Later he began his career in the concrete finishing business by working during World War II, surfacing runways on military installations in Kansas and Ohio. After nearly seven years in Blackwell and then in Hominy for a couple of years , the couple returned their family to Cleveland in 1956, where they raised their three sons, Chester, Forrest Doc and Charles.

Martin worked for many years in the Cleveland and Hominy communities laying brick and concrete blocks. A few of the construction projects included the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church on east Delaware, Chapman-Black Funeral Home, Church of the Nazarene in Cleveland, the Cleveland Bank and the First Baptist Church in Hominy to name a few. In 1966, Martin purchased the concrete plant in Cleveland and established the Martin Lee Concrete Company, which he operated with his son, Chester. Martin remained active in the business until 1985 when he retired for health reasons.

Martin was a member of the First Church of the Nazarene in Cleveland where he served at one time as the Sunday school superintendent. He was baptized at the church in 2001. Following his retirement, Martin's hobbies included working in his yard and vegetable gardening. He also enjoyed reading, western novels and then later religious books. He spent significant time reading about the history of Oklahoma and especially the oilfields in Northeastern Oklahoma. He also liked to watch wrestling on television. Additionally, Martin and Elnora enjoyed spending the winters camping in south Texas, near McAllen.

Martin passed away on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at the Cleveland Area Hospital at the age of eighty-five years, eleven months and seven days. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, Billy Eugene and Max Wayne Lee; and four sisters, Velva Bryan, Cleo Wooton, Georgia Martin and Claudia Lee.

He is survived by his wife of sixty-eight years, Elnora of the home; three sons, Chester and his wife, Elaine Lee of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Forrest Wayne Doc Lee of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Charles and his wife, Mary Joe Lee of Greenville, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Sherri and John Herring of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Shellely and Bobby Dell of Cleveland, Oklahoma, Tammy and Sean Sullivan of San Anselmo, California and Curtis Chester Martin Lee of San Lorenzo, California; five great-grandsons, Matthew and Jeremiah Herring, both of Cleveland, Oklahoma, C. J. and Bryan Dell, both of Cleveland, Oklahoma and Xavier Sullivan of San Anselmo, California.

Funeral service will be held at 10:00 am, Saturday, December 2, 2006 at the Church of the Nazarene in Cleveland with Wilbur Wooton officiating. Burial will be at the Woodland Cemetery under the direction of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home.