SEQUIM –– Longtime grocer Charles Jack Lehman, whose family’s meat market and grocery served Sequim for 90 years, died at his home June 29 after a lengthy illness.
He was 80.
Lehman’s family has planned a memorial service from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Sequim Elks Club, 143 Port Williams Road.
Born Feb. 7, 1934, to Alfred (Babe) and Evelyn Weekley Lehman in Sequim, Lehman took over his family’s Sequim Meat Co. after graduating from Sequim High School in 1953 and attending Washington State University.
The business was started in 1911 by his grandparents, who emigrated from Germany, and was operated under several names for 90 years before closing in 2001.
Lehman married Shirley Govan in 1958, joining two of the Dungeness Valley’s pioneer families. The couple had three children.
In 1960, they purchased buildings adjacent to the meat market and expanded the store as Lehman’s Thriftway, later renaming it Lehman’s Mark and Pac and then Lehman’s Grocery.
The building at 145 E. Washington St., known now as Lehman Court, now houses several businesses.
Standout athlete
A standout athlete at Sequim High, Lehman played baseball, basketball and football.
He later served as a referee for high school basketball games and helped start the Little League football and Babe Ruth baseball programs, coaching many of the teams.
Lehman also served on the board of the Shoreline Management Act, was a volunteer in the Sequim Fire Department for 25 years and volunteered for the Sequim Food Bank, serving several terms as president of its board of directors.
He was also an avid outdoorsman.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, his mother and father, brother Donald Lehman and son Randy Lehman.
He is survived by wife Shirley, daughter and son-in-law Melinda and Kevin Dewey, son and daughter-in-law Richard and Mary Lehman, and six grandchildren.
The family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Welfare for Animals Guild, P.O. Box 3966, Sequim, WA 98382.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
