In 1940 he moved to Everett, Washington and became a United States Naturalized Citizen. He attended the former South Junior High School for the eighth grade and the former North Junior High School for the ninth grade. In 1945 he started at Everett High School and then moved again to Ferndale, WA and graduated from Ferndale High School in 1948. He attended Everett Junior College and was drafted into the US Army in 1951 and received an Honorary Discharge in 1953.
His basic training was at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and he completed the US Army Cartographical Engineering Drafting School Course and was sent to Tokyo, Japan during he Korean Conflict where he was assigned to the 71st Engineer Survey Liaison Unit attached to the 64th Topographical Battalion surveying in the South Pacific in and around the Marshall Islands including Wake Island, Marcus Island, Iwo Jima, and the Kwajalein Atoll.
Upon receiving his Honorable Discharge from the army in January 1953, Les finally settled in Everett, Washington and began his career with the Washington State Department of Highways, He married Delores on April 24, 1954. While at the Department of Highways, Les worked on construction and designing highway projects SR 5 from Everett to Blaine, Washington and many other secondary road projects, retiring in 1984.
After retirement from the D.O.T. in 1984, he worked for the Commercial Construction Company in Mount Vernon, however highway designing and supervising was still in his heart and he went to work for the Bell Walker Consulting Firm of Bell Walker Engineers in Bellevue, WA. Les as a project construction consultant was involved in designing and providing managing city street projects for the cities of Mount Vernon, Snohomish, and Lynnwood.
Les adamantly enjoyed the mountains especially in the winter season and was very active in downhill ski racing. He formed the Mount Pilchuck Junior Ski Racing Team and upon Mount Pilchuck closing took his ski racing team to Steven's Pass and was director of the Steven's Pass Ski Racing Team for several years.
Eventually Les began officiating ski racing, serving at a Pacific Northwest Technical Delegate for the United States Ski Association and assisted at many World Cup Ski Races as a Certified Ski Racing Official. Les officiated at the Whistler Ski area for the 1989 World Championship and at Vail, Colorado. He was assigned at the Start Referee for the 1990 World Disabled Ski Championships a Winter Park, Colorado.
As old man time took it's toll, Les and Delores purchased a motor home and pursued R.V. traveling with some skiing and golfing squeezed in. However it always seemed to somehow manage their annual ski and golf sessions around Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe each year.
Les belonged to several fraternal organizations over the years; he BPO Elks Lodges in Everett and Mount Vernon; Knights of Columbus in Everett and Marysville; the Family Motor Coach Association; and Winnebago-Itasca Travelers. Les was active as a volunteer for the Marysville Seniors Against Crime and the Providence Hospital Colby Campus, assigning volunteer drivers for those cancer patients requiring transportation for their Cancer treatments.
Les is survived by his wife of 65 years, Delores; children, Denice Close, Pamela Hoge, Debbie Hoge, and Kenneth Hoge; his siblings, Robert Lowe, Marilyn Payne and Dorothy Somers; 9 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents George and Daisey Hoge; his son Lawrence; and his grandsons Bryce Lamont and Tigh Michael Close.
A Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 10:30 am a the St. Mary's Catholic Church, 4200 88th St. NE, Marysville with burial to follow at the Marysville Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home.
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