John Lee DeBruin was born Sept. 18, 1943, in Artesia, Los Angeles County, California, the oldest of Henry J. and Henrietta M. DeBruin’s four children. He graduated from Mount Baker High School in Deming in 1960.
John Lee lived in Southern California, Iowa and South Dakota before moving to the Northwest in 1960 with his family, settling in the Van Zandt area. He served our country in the U.S. Air Force as a military police officer at Fairchild Air Force Base from 1962 to 1966. He worked in the auto salvage business driving truck and salvaging parts for Wholesale Auto Parts and Gundies before retiring. John Lee passed away Oct. 20, 2019, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
He is survived by three siblings and a large extended family.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, in Gillies Funeral Home, 202 Front St., Lynden, with burial to follow in Monumenta Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
