Lee Michael Hackbarth’s quick, droll wit injected humor into daily life and challenging situations alike. The quips on his t-shirts bolstered his philosophy of laughter making good times better and tough times not quite so bad. Lee’s mission of spreading laughter and smiles transitioned from earth bound to heavenly journey on Dec. 10, 2021. Fittingly, God chose a snowstorm to call Lee home as Lee spent his first years in the Coast Guard as a boatswain with the Aids to Navigation team (ANT) stationed at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., from Oct. 1980 to 1984. Lee and his fellow servicemen used snowmobiles and sturdy boats to keep the beacons at lighthouses and the navigational lights in shipping channels operational on Lake Superior and surrounding waterways for freighters and other Great Lakes boat traffic. His last two years with the Coast Guard, from Oct. 1984 to 1986, were spent doing Search and Rescue at Two Rivers, Wis. Lee also served his country as a Seabee with the Naval Reserve for 15 years, beginning in 1990.
Not surprisingly, given his choice of nautical military service, Lee’s first port of call was Oct. 2, 1962 at Great Lakes Naval Hospital, as his father was active duty Navy at the time. Welcomed by parents Keith and Arlene “Pinch” (Pagels) Hackbarth, Lee joined seven older siblings. His status as baby of the family abruptly ended when Lee was almost six and a baby sister arrived instead of the pony Lee had been expecting. Lee was formally introduced to his future wife at Tripoli Elementary School, Tripoli, Wis., where they attended Kindergarten through 8th Grade. They graduated together from Prentice High School, Prentice, Wis., in 1980 and pursued separate paths, reuniting in their hometown of Tripoli in the spring of 2002. Following some unusual courtship rituals that involved collapsing shelves and home canned goods spewing their contents on them and everything else in sight, Lee proposed to his lifelong friend and the love of his life on his 40th birthday at Buckingham Fountain in Chicago, Ill. Right on cue, John Philip Sousa music heralded their engagement to the surrounding park. This was a fitting apology from the city of Chicago after all the other landmarks that Lee had sought to propose at that day were closed for the season or had packed up and moved away. Lee and Edith-Marie (Edye) Raleigh were married on Sept. 6, 2003 at Devil’s Head Resort, Merrimac, Wis. Wedding attendees fondly recall assembling trellises with power tools, asking the set-up staff to please-for-the-love-of-heaven remove the sheets from the taxidermy deer and other antlered animal mounts adorning the walls of the chapel, and the groom and groomsmen doing cannonballs into the pool. Lee and Edye settled in Eau Galle, Wis., in May 2004. Their family grew to include two teddy bear sons, BunnyBear and Buddy, and two mostly loving felines, Grey and her nemesis Stowaway, a boy kitty who usually thinks he is a puppy. Lee was a 20-year veteran Corrections Officer with the Minnesota Department of Corrections, proudly working at the Red Wing, Minn., Facility.
Lee was an ardent student of history, voraciously studying nautical disasters (shipwrecks), Life Saving stations and lighthouses, Arctic expeditions and vintage snowmobiles, World Wars I and II, and whatever else piqued his interest. He especially enjoyed “living history” through conversations with veterans and other individuals whose life experiences put them on the forefront of historical happenings or documentation of the events. BunnyBear and Lee climbed 73 lighthouses together and Buddy shared another of Lee’s greatest interests, the U.S. Life Saving Service, which was the precursor to the USCG. Lee belonged to many organizations dedicated to preserving history, especially Great Lakes’ nautical history. One close to Lee’s heart is “S.O.S. Vermilion” which is working to preserve Vermilion, one of the first four life-saving stations built on Lake Superior and the only one still standing.
Lee is greatly missed by his wife Edye, sons BunnyBear and Buddy, kitties Grey and Stowaway; father Keith Hackbarth (Tripoli, Wis.); siblings Keith Jr. (California), William and Jennifer Hackbarth (Rib Lake, Wis.), Patricia “Patty” Whisenant (Madison, Wis.), Claire Bernitt (Wilson, Wis.), Alan and Cheryl Hackbarth (Madison, Wis.), Karl and Danette Hackbarth (Knapp, Wis.), and Jane and David Dettmering (Prentice, Wis.); brother-in-laws Wallace and Cheryl Raleigh (Hudson, Wis.), Peter and Donna Raleigh (Eau Claire, Wis.), and Chas and Marcy Raleigh (Lombard, Ill.); extended family, dear friends and the devoted readers of his annual Christmas newsletter. Waiting to welcome Lee home to heaven were his mother Arlene “Pinch” Hackbarth, sister and brother-in-law Sandra and Paul Statz, brother-in-law William “95” Whisenant, parents-in-law Beulah and Ron Raleigh, and too many good friends and extended family members.
A “Remembrance Picnic” will be held this summer to share memories of Lee. Once arrangements have been made, information will be available at the Lenmark Gomsrud Linn funeral home website. As a tribute to Lee, a donation to “S.O.S. Vermilion” (www.sosvermilion.org) would be an appreciated memorial.