Commander Will Lee Crites Jr USNR (RET), 90, passed away Sunday, April 24, 2016 at Olathe Medical Center's Hospice House. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Winona May Morrison Crites, who passed away on December 16, 2015.

Lee was born May 9, 1925 in Dallas, Texas. He was the son of Will L. Crites and Ina Straiton Crites and came from a family of 3.

Though he spent his early years in Texas, Lee grew up in Oklahoma calling Choctaw his home. Since he grew up mainly on an Oklahoma farm, Lee helped the family by assisting his dad with chores and by hunting rabbits to put food on the table.

At the age of 16 he left home to attend a larger school and work in Oklahoma City. Like most young men he wanted to get into the service but he was initially too young. At 17 he joined the Marine Corps and after basic training he became a radio operator. He spent time in the South Pacific on the Solomon Islands and participated in at least one landing as well as serving as a gunner on a PT Boat. He was credited with two campaigns in the Asia Pacific Theater.

After the War he returned to Oklahoma, finished High School and enrolled at Phillips University in Enid Oklahoma. There he met and married Winona Morrison and following graduation he was employed by Continental Oil Company in Ponca City, Oklahoma. In those immediate post war years he also fulfilled a lifelong dream by taking flying lessons and becoming a pilot. In addition, he applied for and was accepted as an officer in the Naval Reserve. After 30 years of service Lee retired as a Navy Commander.

Lee spent 10 years in Ponca City working as an accountant for Conoco. During this period he was blessed with three daughters. After that ten year period he was offered a series of promotions and worked as a financial trouble shooter for Conoco working in Houston, New Orleans, Cleveland, Lincoln and finally Kansas City. He retired from Conoco in 1984 as the Division Treasury Manager.

Throughout his life Lee, pursued two hobbies that were really passions. First he loved hunting, a pastime he had learned to appreciate as a young boy. He hunted deer, wild pigs and various wild fowl in numerous locations in the Mid-west. His interest in hunting resulted in him and his good friend Jack Weiss designing and ultimately receiving a US Patent in 2006 for a crossbow cocking system called Kwik Kock.

More than hunting he loved flying. During his lifetime he received his private pilot's license, qualified for a pilot in multi engine aircraft, and became a flight instructor. His talent as a pilot was repeatedly shown when he got into aerobatic flying winning innumerable trophies for his skills as a pilot. Some of his trophies were won through flying his Steen Skybolt, an aerobatic plane that he built over a period of seven years, initially in his basement.

Lee was a lifelong member of the Golden Eagles, National Rifle Association. He was an active member and officer of the Kansas City Aerobatic Club IAC Chapter 15, the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Quiet Birdmen. He also regularly attended Thursday morning Investment Club meetings and Tuesday Lunch. Lee was a devout Christian, a staunch conservative and a proud American.

Although Lee traveled extensively throughout his career, when he was at home he enjoyed tucking his daughters into bed at night. A bedtime story was always a part of this ritual. The stories were special because they were true stories of his adventures when he was a child. At his daughter's request Lee recently self-published, Sleepy Daddy Stories, a book of the bedtime stories they grew up on.

He is survived by daughters Robin Crites, Rhonda Newland and Kit Pittier; grandchildren Shaun Howard, Olivia Sieczkowski, Collin Pittier, Nathan Crites-Herren and Daniel Newland; and great-grandchildren, James Howard, Zerek Sieczkowski, and Alexander Sieczkowski.

Graveside services will be held at 12:15 pm on Tuesday, May 3, at Leavenworth National Cemetery, 150 Muncie Rd, Leavenworth, KS 66048. In lieu of flowers, contributions are suggested to the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the Disabled American Veterans.