Lee Noah Samora

Lee Noah Samora was born on March 12, 1947, being a very special birthday present to his mother, sharing her day of birth. He passed away to forever be with the Lord Jesus Christ on May 1, 2012. Lee was born in Walsenburg, Colorado into a large, close and vibrant family and was the 10th out of 11 children born to Fay Marie and Abel Samora. Lee, who has always been called Lee Noe by his closest family and friends, was always known to be a quiet but very ornery child who had a wonderful sense of humor. There are many stories that have been shared of his high-jinx and practical jokes. Perhaps we will be fortunate enough to read of some of his pranks on this website. As a young child, Lee Noe moved to Denver with his family and attended Wyatt Elementary, Cole Jr. High School and Manuel High School before graduating from North High School. Although Lee Noe was an excellent and bright student, his extra-curricular activities often involved church. As a youth, Lee Noe enjoyed participating in church youth activities very much. The church is where he met his best friend, wife and love of his life, Naomi Velasquez. Lee Noe was but 15 years old and Naomi only 13 years old when she caught his eye and he first asked her for a date. They fell in love and married four years later on February 11, 1967. Lee and Naomi and have been together ever since and celebrated their 45th anniversary in February 2012. Lee was very much in love with Naomi for the remainder of his life. In fact only a day before he left us, he still looked upon her with love and passion and called her his sweetheart and an angel that he has always loved and will love forever. Lee began attending college at Metropolitan State College, but was drafted into the Army. Lee attended basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Lee excelled in his training and was chosen to become an Army Officer. Lee, however, did not wish to be an officer and so he was trained to be a communications specialist. He also received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, 20S Bars, Good Conduct Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Radio Teletype Operator Medal and a Medal for Sharp-Shooting. Lee Noe was able to return for two weeks to Colorado in September 1967 for the birth of his first child, Stephanie Renee. Lee Noe was elated to be a father, so having to leave his new family to face the dangers and horrors of Vietnam was difficult for him. But Lee, being a brave soldier and upstanding man, departed in December 1967 to serve a year in Vietnam. Lee's faith and the prayers of his mother, father, family, friends and wife interceded daily and the Lord kept his hands upon Lee Noe bringing him home uninjured and in his right mind. Lee Noe served his country bravely but spent many, many years trying to forget the year he spent fighting for his life and Country in Vietnam. Perhaps it was being a witness to the pain, sorrow and atrocities of war that made Lee Noe such a loving and gentle man. Lee appreciated every one he knew and loved them despite quirks, shortcomings or even offences. For Lee Noe, love, respect, kindness, patience, forgiveness and grace toward his fellow man and especially for those he loved came naturally and easily. After being honorably discharged from the Army, Lee Noe immediately returned home, obtained a job as a cable-splicer with Mountain Bell and returned to college at Metro State studying engineering and marketing. On October 5, 1970 Lee welcomed his second child, Christine Fay. Lee was very proud to have two beautiful daughters but was ecstatic when his son, Aaron Bennie was born in March of 1973. Lee named his son after his brother, Aaron who had passed away at a young age. Throughout the following years Lee enjoyed life. He purchased a home in Westminster, Colorado, and being the artist and creative, able and crafty person he is, Lee soon took to remodeling the home, building a fireplace, removing and adding rooms, finishing the basement and creatively landscaping the yard. Lee loved building and improving things around his home. He was especially proud of the amazing work-shed he completed, while every child in the family was more impressed by the huge tree house he constructed. Being the excellent father that he was, Lee supported his children in all their endeavors. Buying a piano when Stephanie wanted to take lessons, spending years coaching his son Aaron in baseball and supporting Christine in her studies in Cosmetology allowing her to graduate from beauty college when she also graduated from high school. Lee loved the outdoors and often took his family on vacations in the Rocky Mountains, fishing, horseback riding and visiting all the historic mountain towns. Lee looked forward to the annual elk hunting trip with his brothers often coming home not with an elk, but with hilarious stories. Lee also learned to downhill ski later in life and really liked it. Lee loved listening to music of all kinds having a soft spot for Elvis, The Drifters, Saxophone music, Antonio Briviasca and Doo Wop in general. Lee often made up his own songs and his own lyrics to the songs he liked, for instance when he would sing Dean Martin's ‘That's Amore" he would sing "That's Samora". He also played the trumpet, saxophone and guitar and enjoyed evenings playing and singing songs with his children. Lee loved art, exploring new restaurants and ethnic foods, cooking and shopping, often disappearing for hours and coming home with groceries from three or four different stores. He absolutely loved grocery shopping! Lee also loved traveling and cherished the time he spent with his family on an extended road trip to California, visiting sites in Mexico, San Diego, Los Angeles (especially Disney Land), Las Vegas, and Arizona (especially the Grand Canyon). Lee also loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He attended church for more than 20 years at In Spirit & Truth Christian Fellowship and surrendered his heart to God. Lee Noe lived the scripture of I Corinthians 13: 4-7: Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but it rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preservers. He was the epitome of someone who lived in the spirit. To all that knew him, he was most likely the kindest, quietest and most gentle soul they knew. Although there were many things Lee loved, nothing could compare to the love he had for his grandchildren. When his first grandchild, Tarah was born in August of 1990, it was like God turned a light in on Lee Noe. He glowed with pride. He was so happy and proud to be a grandfather that the week Tarah was born he took cigars and large pins he had made with Tarah's picture on them to everyone at work. He was amazed that his co-workers might not want to wear their pin as much as he did. He bought a video camera, using it non-stop and showing visitors hours of video of Tarah sleeping, yawning and other exciting activities newborns do. The birth of Tarah changed Lee Noe making him love even more deeply than he did before, if it could be possible. Gabriel was born next, in December of 1993 and Lee was again thrilled to not only have another grandchild, but a grandson! Lee Noe was truly a father to Tarah and Gabriel throughout their lives, spending time with them, guiding them, supporting them through his love and wisdom and through providing material things. He was so proud of Tarah graduating high school with an International Baccalaureate Diploma and going to university. He was honored to give her away at her wedding last August 2011, although he found it hard to give his princess to another man. He also loved Gabriel with his whole heart and was so proud that his artistic abilities, intelligence and sense of humor were passed down to such a wonderful grandson and we know one of the things Lee most longed to see is Gabriel's evolution into manhood, attending college and starting a family of his own. Lee Noe was soon to have many other grandchildren, Amber, Aaron, Elena, Andrew, Aliviah, Adam and most recently Josiah. Lee's grandchildren were the joy of his life and his reason for living. He was a family man in every sense of the word. His grandchildren were blessed to have such a wonderful example to follow and to have experienced such unconditional love. Lee always saw the strengths of his children and grand children and believed in their potential. What a wonderful gift! Lee also worked hard for his family. Especially as through the years, he continued to work full time, went to college and also took on a part-time job. His children remember nights when he got home after a day of work at his full time and evening job to tuck them into bed, then waking up in the morning to find him still studying at the kitchen table. Lee was promoted from within the telephone company, eventually becoming a Marketing Engineer and Legal Analyst. He was laid off when Qwest acquired the telephone company and decided to retire at the time of the layoff. Within months of his retirement, Lee's good health began to suffer. His kidneys began to fail, which caused other health issues. Lee was a strong man and fought his health issues bravely for nearly 10 years. Lee was placed on the kidney transplant list in 2006 and received his kidney on April 25, 2012. Lee was looking forward to being able to do things he had been unable to for years, was excited and happy to regain his health and once again enjoy life as he had. He looked forward to traveling, working in his yard, driving, playing his musical instruments, doing art projects and even fixing up his bathroom and transforming his garage into a new dining room. Although the kidney transplant was a flying success, Lee's heart stopped only three hours from being sent home from the hospital. It was too soon to send him home. He fought valiantly and bravely for his life, but the Lord took him home. Although we struggle to understand why the Lord took Lee now we know that God is gracious and loving and must have a purpose and will for him. And although we already miss Lee miserably, we hold to the promise that we will see him again to be reunited forever and ever with the Lord. For he truly was the best of us all.

Reception:
In Spirit and Truth Christian Fellowship
6524 Urban Street
Arvada, CO
80004