About Me
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Family History:
I was born on November 5, 1948 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Garden Bay, Pender Harbour. I am descended from two families of early settlers. My paternal grandfather, Ole Andreas Olsen Lee, moved with his family from Sweden to Canada in 1889. He visited Pender Harbour in 1915 and 1916, fishing for herring, and liked the area. In November of 1917, he brought his wife, Frida, and six children from Whonnock to a home in Irvines Landing near the bay that now bears the Lee family name. My father, Robert H. Lee, was born at home in Irvines Landing on April 23, 1919. On my mother’s side, I am a descendant of Maynard and Eva Dubois who came to Pender Harbour from Burnaby in the 1920s. My mother, Leona Dubois, was born at home in Hospital Bay in 1928. I grew up in Irvines Landing, attending Irvines Landing School (now Sarah Wray Hall) and Madeira Park Elementary. I graduated from Pender Harbour Secondary School in 1967. My father was a fisherman and logger, so I spent summers in logging camps and a significant time on the boat fishing around Smith Inlet, Johnstone Strait and Pender Harbour. I landed my first paying job at the age of 14 in Pender and worked until I turned 23 at logging, fishing, carpentry and mechanics. On November 13, 1971, I married Linda Johnson. We have one son, Ryan, who was born in 1979. Although I moved to Vancouver in 1970, Linda and I have always spent a lot of our time in Pender. We have owned property here since 1978, and we returned full-time to the harbour in 2002. I retired from my management position at TELUS in 2003 and became an independent consultant and business owner. My work history while living in the lower mainland included eight years as a Field Services Technician working on terminals, computers and data services with CNCP and BC Tel. Moving into management at TELUS, I held various positions for the next 25 years, starting with 1st level supervisor jobs and spending the last 20 years in senior management posts in Operations departments, including positions in Engineering, Business Transformation, Program Management, Business Evolution and Business Performance. After retiring to Pender, I worked as a consultant with a First Nations group, assisting with business proposals, business cases and funding procurement. I currently own and occasionally operate S2G Enterprises, a custom home-building company I founded in 2006. Post-secondary Education / Executive Development:
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Pender Harbour Days boat parade
Sarah Wray Hall renovation
Len with local author/historian Ray Phillips
Len and the Pender Harbour Days team
Len and his son Ryan prepping posts for the Sarah Wray Hall deck
Len building the roof on the new deck at Sarah Wray Hall
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Community Contributions:
- Youth Soccer in Coquitlam - coach, treasurer, vice president and president, Westminster District Secretary, BCYSA representative from Westminster District 12 years (1986 to 1998)
- Pender Harbour Rotary - Volunteer, 2010 to present. Participated in various and ongoing projects including herring curtains, John Daly Park viewing platform, and the dinghy dock in Garden Bay.
- Pender Harbour Advisory Council - Director/Vice President/President, 2012 to present.
- Harbour Authority of Pender Harbour - Director/Vice Chair, 2010 to present.
- Pender Harbour and District Chamber of Commerce - Director/President, 2010 to present.
- Pender Harbour Living Heritage Society, Sarah Wray Hall – Construction Team Lead/Director, 2011 to present.
