William (Bill) Edward Lehman

February 10, 1953 – December 20, 2023

What I, William (Bill) Edward Lehman, Want My Loved Ones To Know:

I want you to know I love you. I do not fear death itself. I think of it not as the end, but as a time for personal growth for everyone including me. I recall wherever we went into the outdoors with my dad he insisted that we leave the site better than we found it so it would be ready for the next
visitor. With this guidance in mind, after my death I would like my body to be allowed to transform into soil using a process called natural organic reduction. The soil can then be used to regenerate the earth that supports us. An organization called Recompose in Seattle will facilitate the natural organic reduction of my remains.

I wish to be forgiven for the times I have hurt you and I wish family, friends and others to know that I forgive them for when they may have hurt me.

If anyone asks how I want to be remembered please say this about me:
He was born in Morehead City, North Carolina on February 10, 1953, with a younger (by six minutes) identical twin brother George Arthur to parents Helen and Burton Lehman. Bill grew up in Steilacoom, Washington with three older sisters, Beulah Johnson, Louise Ackerman, Olivia Houston and three younger sisters, Margaret Santoyo, Berta Parker and Judy Murphy.
Bill married Gail Susan Farber, high school sweetheart, in 1974. They had a daughter Kayla Elianna whom he loved profoundly. Father and daughter spent hours together reading, being in the outdoors, swimming, playing tennis and partook in many other activities. Kayla married in 2013 and later had 2 sons: Quentin David, in April 2015, and Francis Reed, in June 2018.
He often said his grandkids are the best part of his retirement plan. He enjoyed getting together with family and friends.

He was active in outdoors hiking, birdwatching and mountain climbing and enjoyed these things in the company of and with the support of his friends and family. He summited Mount Tahoma (Rainier), Klickitat (Adams), Olympus, and Glacier Peak with friends. Gail climbed Adams twice with him. As a young man he worked in retail with Gail’s family in Tacoma while completing a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at PLU. As life circumstances changed Gail and Bill spent a “gap year” in Israel in 1983 to re-examine their future. They came back to the Northwest with ideas for a new direction for Bill as either an elementary school teacher or an occupational therapist. He chose occupational therapy and completed a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy at UPS. He began work at Western State Hospital in
January 1989 and retired 30 years later in July 2019.

He is survived by those listed above along with many nephew, nieces, cousins, other extended family and by many friends.

William (Bill) Edward Lehman passed away peacefully in his sleep beside his wife on December 20, 2023.