Dr. Leonard Eugene's Obituary
Born at home in Tacoma to Samuel Estes and Clara Shigley Extes on November 4, 1927, Len was an only child. He grew up on McKinley Hill in Tacoma attending Rogers Elementary, Gault Junior High and graduating mid-term from Lincoln High School in 1945. Len has never missed a class reunion and enjoys many friendships from his school days. He entered the University of Washington and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Basic Medical Science in 1948. He served in the US Army during the Korean Occupation as a corpsman. He then attended and graduated from the School of Dentistry at the University of Oregon in 1953. He was then Doctor-drafted into the US Air Force and was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco as a First Lieutenant and later was stationed as a Captain at Castle Air Force Base in Merced, CA from 1954 to 1955.Len and Beverly met at the Tacoma train depot on Christmas Eve morning in 1954. They were married in this church (First Presbyterian Tacoma) on September 24, 1955, and have been tied at the hip ever since! In their early married years they square danced, were active community members, attended every High School Reunion for both of them, and even found time to Â"borrowÂ" BeverlyÂ's sisterÂ's kids for fun adventures. Mitch learned to water ski at 6 years old behind Uncle Len and Aunt BevÂ's boat on Soap Lake. Brave Aunt Bev and Uncle Len took the three kids on their one and only camping trip! Many fond memories will stay with the family from all the holiday events and birthdays. Len had a chance to hold his great grandson, Elliott Gene Estes, when he was only a few hours old-what a proud moment that was!Active in the Browns Point Improvement Club and the Browns Point/Dash Point Fire Department many years because Beverly served as a Volunteer Fire Fighter for forty years and was a Fire Commissioner for seven years. He was her campaign booster and put up with the fire radio and its loud summons at all hours.Dr. Estes practiced dentistry beginning in 1955 in Tacoma until he sold the practice to Dr. Kevin Xu in 1998. Dr. Estes was continuing to see patients on Mondays only, as he had for several years.In semi-retirement, he was able to become more involved with the Tacoma Rescue Mission, serving on the Board of Trustees from 1983 to the present. He served a term as Board President and had great fun helping with their charity golf tournaments. Because of his passion for helping those in spiritual as well as material needs, we, his family, as that your contributions be made to the Mission in LenÂ's name.The Pierce County Fruit Growers Association was another of his great interests. Last Saturday he and Beverly spent the day in Mount Vernon at a regional meeting visiting g the WSU fruit orchard and demonstration gardens. He came away with some new ideas for his garden next year. He has served as their president, helped recently at their booth at the Western Washington Fair and could grow the most beautiful, perfect apples because they wore protective nylon Â"footiesÂ".For pure fun, he and Beverly traveled extensively, enjoying cruises with former classmates and being very active in the Classic Thunderbird Club. Their 1955 white T-Bird has been a familiar sight for many years around Washington State, British Columbia and Oregon. Len enjoyed being in the long parade of these classic cars and even the time and effort it took to keep them looking like new. Always the student and wishing to excel in his dentistry, Len participated in many study groups: The American Institute of Oral Biology, West Coast Society of Prosodontics, the Washington State Dental Society, the Pierce County Dental Society, Washington Dental Education Foundation, Academy of General Dentistry, Washington Board of Dental Examiners and a Fellow in the International College of Dentists.
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