George Robert Lee, Jr.

I am at a loss for words so I will start with some words that remind me of George: Short, Belly, Stinky, Tobacco, Crotchety, Mischievous, Politically Incorrect, Flatulent, Honest, Loyal, Kind, Intelligent, Hilarious, Lovable, Father, Friend.

I miss the day to day sound of George’s change jingling as he huffed and puffed his way around the office, grumbling about some dumb SOB, all the while, sneaking a little candy bar to me or Delenah. I love and miss George very much and offer his sweet daughters and all his family my sincerest condlences for their loss.

I met George in 1992 at Armorcoat of Washington. Over the years, we became good friends at both Armorcoat and later at Brower.

On a trip to Portland, my windows wound up with a little water under them and his had a few wrinkles. From then on, I was Bubbles and he was Fingers.

George loved telling jokes. I don’t know what was more entertaining – the punchlines themselves or George laughing so hard he could barely get to the punchlines.

One of the last jokes he told me went something like this:

An old guy and his nagging wife were standing in line at the bank when armed robbers burst in and told everyone to get on the floor. During the robbery, one of the robbers’ masks fell off. He asked a couple people, “Did you see my face?” If they said yes, the robber shot them. He walks over to the old man and asks him, “Did you see my face?” The old man points to his wife and says, “No, but she did!”

I regret we can’t take our trip to Tijuana. Rest in peace, Fingers.

I met George in 1991 as a co-worker in a profession we both never expected to be in. We worked on the Portland runs and lived together in hotel rooms. He always said, “Never follow a skinny guy to lunch” and I always followed him.

I have known the man for almost twenty years and have heard every one of his jokes a million times and they were funny, everytime.

We would trade VHS tapes of movies we both liked. We would both laugh at “Knarfle the Garthak” and nobody would get it. Our favorite was Forrest Gump and we started calling each other “Bubba” and meant it.

The only time I ever saw George get mad was when I sprayed his tires with wheel shine. The man became un-glued and I never did it again.

If Dawn would ever ask, “Where’d you get the Geek?” your life would be over.

I remember a hot august day last year. George was sitting in a folding chair in the shade outside the bay doors having a smoke.

I saw him as I came around the corner and gunned my truck. He just grinned and raised his hands palms up as if to say, “Go ahead, make my day.”

That is how I will always remember my friend.

Lord, I rode with him and have no complaints.

PS. We have your cat living at the shop and he’s a pain in the @$$.

When Gerald Butch Goudie and I first met in New Orleans, LA he told me all about his best friend and how Judd was the brother he never had. After a while I felt I had a new friend. And to prove that Judd thought of me as a friend, he would call me, long distance, in the middle of the night, to tell me blonde jokes. Then he would say, “Go back to bed.”

We miss those jokes and we will always miss our best friend and brother.

Roberta, I wish you and your family the warmest wishes during this tough time. My thoughts are with you!

Dad,

I miss you so much. I miss your jokes that keep me smiling. I miss playing Yahtzee, Uno, Sorry and all the other games with you.

Love you,

Your baby girl