Lee Fickle discovered his interest in learning and adventure while growing up with his parents and siblings in Mulberry, Ind. That interest led him to establish the Lee E. Fickle Fund for the Friends of the Mulberry Community Library through the Clinton County Community Foundation. Through his estate, Lee specified that the Friends of the Mulberry Community Library benefit from the fund and that the fund be “dedicated to his siblings, Earl, Frances, Anna and Martha, and to other children who learned to love books in this small town.”
Lee was born on July 16, 1926, and grew up on the family’s 120-acre farm. He passed away on April 10, 2018. While he was in the seventh grade, Lee decided to become an electrical engineer and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1948. Lee began his career at the Rural Electrification Administration in Washington, D.C. In 1950, he married his lifelong love Dorothy Wentworth. They were together for more than 50 years until she passed away in March 2005.
Their early life together included three children and a home in Indianapolis, where Lee worked for Eli Lilly as a plant engineer. Seeking adventure, the young family moved to Bangkok, Thailand, in 1962. Lee began a 16-year career path in consulting engineering assignments in Bangkok, Dacca (East Pakistan, now Dhaka, Bangladesh) and Jakarta. He learned the local languages and brought power to hundreds of thousands of people for the first time.
In 1978, Lee and Dorothy moved to Kansas City. In his job as senior vice president of Marketing for Black & Veatch International, Lee traveled extensively throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Upon his retirement, Lee devoted time to his interests and volunteering.
“I’m sure Lee’s hope through this gift is that many young readers will develop an awareness about something that will spark an interest in gaining an education and then follow through to have a great career, family and adventure,” said Gene Marshall, treasurer of the Friends of the Mulberry Community Library. “Reading, education and books accomplished that for Lee. Through this generous gift, he is enabling others to have the same opportunity to dream and accomplish those dreams.”
The Clinton County Community Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization created in 1996. The mission of the Foundation is to improve the quality of life of the community through the accumulation and stewardship of enduring charitable gifts. For details about making a charitable gift or establishing a permanent endowment fund to benefit a charitable organization or interest in Clinton County, please contact the Community Foundation at (800) 964-0508 or visit the Web site at www.cfclinton.org.