LeRoy (Lee) DuBois 1926-2016

 June 7, 1926-May 27, 2016, LeRoy (Lee) DuBois died on May 27, 2016, eleven days shy of his 90th birthday and 70th wedding anniversary. This veteran and member of the "greatest generation" is survived by his wife, Ella Marie DuBois, and four children: Dalene Bradford of Kansas City, MO; Marjean Brooks of Birmingham, AL (Ricky), Dwight DuBois of Des Moines, IA (Janice) and Doug DuBois of Lawrence, KS. Grandchildren are Hunter Bradford (Diane), Jonathan Walden, Forrest Walden (Mendy), Shannon Pardo (Andrs), Anna Kirner (Joel), David DuBois (Cori), Tyler Brooks (Wendy), Lindsey Moncus (Burke) and John David Brooks (Brannon.) Eleven great-grandchildren round out the family. Known as "Grandpa," the beloved patriarch was a member of Shades Valley Lutheran Church for 55 years. Lee was born to Alice and William Clyde DuBois on June 7, 1926, on a 160-acre farm north of Agra, Kansas, a place he always referred to as "home" even though he and Marie lived in Birmingham, Alabama, since 1961. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Ira, Ivan, Cecil and Orval DuBois, as well as sisters Evelyn Ashworth and Lona Lala. Completing high school during World War II, Lee missed his graduation ceremony in order to ship out to Navy boot camp, eventually serving on the destroyer USS Beatty. On his 20th birthday in 1946, he married Ella Marie Gremmel, his high school sweetheart; throughout his life he told everyone she was the best birthday present he ever got. They moved to Manhattan, KS, where he became the first college graduate in his family, earning a degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University. Engineering jobs were hard to come by after the war and he soon found himself in sales. After taking the Dale Carnegie sales course, Lee discovered his life-long passion and became a trainer. Without knowing what an entrepreneur was, he moved the family to Birmingham to launch a new company that evolved into the Lee DuBois Corporation. For years he traveled 2,000 miles a week delivering live sales training through a 12-week program he developed. Then he saw a way to expand his reach by filming his course for video. Later he wrote a book, Everyone Sells! which is still in print today. Many worldwide corporations used Lee's course on professional sales training, and its principles were also taught at the University of Alabama, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, as well as used by the US Army and Air Force. Lee's commitment to family was strong. He was a dedicated husband, loving and serving Marie in their retirement. He was an articulate storyteller, spinning his yarns to anyone who would listen (often repeatedly). For the last fifteen years, he wrote a weekly email newsletter called "Saturday Chatter" to a large group of friends and family members stretching from New York to California. To all who knew him, he was a man of influence and charm with great intellect and wit. To his final day, he loved to have an audience. Lee's final resting place will be West Cedar Cemetery (north of Agra, KS), established by his grandfather on their farm property.