LeRoy Joseph LaMar

LeRoy Joseph LaMar was born January 22, 1944 in Tacoma, WA to John Joseph and Lucille Glew LaMar, their last child and brother to his three older sisters. He grew up in Parkland, WA and after graduating from Franklin Pierce High School, attended Olympic College in Bremerton, WA and then the University of Washington in Seattle. He interrupted his schooling to join the Navy in 1966 to avoid the draft. He married his college sweetheart, Regina Davis of Connell, WA, in 1967 as he finished his military training. He left the Navy after six years to finish his Bachelor of Science degree at Brigham Young University and took a civil service position with the Navy at Keyport, WA as an electronics engineer.

The couple built a home on two and a half acres in Poulsbo, WA, with LeRoy doing much of the work himself. Here they raised their five children. After getting a master’s degree from USC, LeRoy changed his naval career focus to Total Quality Assurance training. In the mid-nineties he accepted an early release from his job, and with a couple of partners bought a small crane-inspecting business. They named their company Arxcis, expanded its services, and it grew from a three-person operation to a team of nine. LeRoy retired in 2009 and, after 47 years of living in Poulsbo, he and Regina sold their house in 2021 to diminish their home maintenance workload and accommodate LeRoy’s Parkinson’s disease. That fall they moved to Lacey, WA to be near their youngest daughter.

LeRoy had a dry sense of humor and a knack for comic timing. As a teenager, he was a firefighter one summer in the Cascade Mountains, and in the 1980s was a Scoutmaster whose most memorable campout included climbing Mt. Rainier with “his” boys. He was also a repairman and fixed various small appliances, home trouble spots, and cars. He enjoyed the outdoors, hiking and camping; building things and using tools; teaching; riding his horse Duke; listening to orchestral music and attending occasional performances at the Seattle Symphony; now and then going to plays, liking their set designs as much as the productions; and shooting pool or playing ping pong or badminton. He was known for his “tool parties”, turkey deboning demonstrations, inventive creations and costumes, and never being without a pocket protector in his shirt pocket. He was a loving, caring husband, father and grandfather, and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in teaching and leadership positions of it throughout his adult life.

LeRoy died of aspiration pneumonia while sleeping peacefully, on July 9, 2025 in Olympia WA, with his wife and a grandson at his side. He is survived by his children Cheryl LaMar and Shawn LaMar, Suzanne Long (Ryan), Scott LaMar (Sarah), and Jennifer Martin (Bill); grandchildren Jace, Francesca, Lucy, Jack, Cameron and Thomas; a sister, Darlene Hilmanofski; two nephews, Vernon Hudson and Lucky Hilmanofski; two nieces, Debbie Grimshaw and Roseanna Hudson; and his wife of 58 years, Regina. His burial will be in Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA on August 4, 2025.     He helped many, and will be deeply missed.