The Lee Legacy

PALMER — Friends and family of John Lee gathered near the south end of the Palmer ‘Bud Woods’ Municipal Airport to recognize a lifetime of work from a local legend. The city of Palmer cut the ribbon on the John S. Lee Helipad and large aircraft parking apron. Lee has spent a lifetime developing Alaska’s aviation industry.

“I just love to fly, so it’s as simple as that,” Lee said. “I grew up in the Alaska bush and if you didn’t fly you didn’t go.”

Lee was surrounded by friends, family, and fellow flyers who came to commemorate the naming of the new helipad at the Palmer Airport for Lee. Lee has been an integral part of the airports recent success. Just last summer, the Palmer airport completed a $9 million restoration project of all of the runways. John’s son, Leighton Lee, said that there have been preliminary discussions about the Palmer airport as a drone hub. Leighton Lee described his father’s work as foundational to the success of the airport itself.

“He’s probably most proud of the fact that he’s been a small businessmen here for over 40 years. He really started the company in his basement, frankly out of the pilots seat of a single engine aircraft and turned it into a multi million dollar thriving enterprise,” Leighton Lee said. “He’s certainly proud of his accomplishments out here at the airport. He’s done a lot really to put this airport on the map. I know he’s proud of his service record, he was distinguished service in Vietnam and really he genuinely views the community’s success as his success.”

John Lee said that it takes a lot of self preservation to complete some of the projects he’s been a part of safely. Customers of Lee built mountaintop facilities to get accurate elevation. Many of those same customers and employees took time off to celebrate with Lee. Lee said that he was not used to being in the spotlight.

“Now I’m more interested in my grandkids than anything else,” Lee said. “It’ll sink it maybe by tomorrow or the next day, it feels kind of funny.”

Life Med currently runs their fixed wing operations out of the Palmer Airport, and with the new helipad could conceivably support more activity from the helicopter industry.

“This is just another opportunity for the Palmer airport to move forward and market more of its resources that are going to continue to make this the crown jewel of the Valley,” said Ken More, Chair of the Airport Advisory Committee.

The Palmer Airport has grown so fast in recent years, they are running out of airside rentable space and looking at alternative taxiways in order to accommodate additional airside space.

“He’s been a stalwart supporter of the airport for eons and anybody that’s in aviation knows the name John Lee,” More said. “He’s been a big promoter, not only in personal resources but corporate. He’s just an amazing person and has done nothing but give to the community.”