Leander "Lee" Benjamin Flesche

2021-12-06T16:45:25-06:00
Army Badge
  • Name: Leander "Lee" Benjamin Flesche
  • Location of Birth:
  • Date of Birth: April 15, 1893
  • Date of Death: December 26, 1928 **
  • Parents: Erick E. and Severine Flesche
  • High School and Class:
  • College:
  • Highest Rank: CORP (Corporal)
  • Branch: Army
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: June 14, 1919
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge:
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    Lee served in the Minnesota 88th Division, Company F, 352nd Infantry.

    Lee left St. Nazaire, France on May 21, 1919 on the USS Pocohontas. He arrived at Camp Hill in Newport News, Virginia in 1919.

  • Wars Involved:
    World War I

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    Information from news article in Grand Rapids Herald Review, dated January 2, 1929:

    "Young Man Killed in Road Accident"
    "Arbo Farmer Lost Life as Result of Runaway Team Last Saturday Afternoon."
    "Lee Flesche, aged 22 years, was instantly killed last Saturday afternoon, when the team he was driving ran away, and he either was thrown or jumped from the wagon, striking his head on the frozen ground.
    In company with his brother, Ray, Lee Flesche had gone after a load of dry wood. They did not find what they wanted at the place where they went, so were returning home, and when within about half a mile of home, Ray got out to walk to get warm. Lee was driving the team, and met an automobile, which frightened the team, and caused them to run away. Ray was too far away to see whether his brother fell out, or attempted to jump, but when he reached him, Lee was dead. Examination indicated that he had struck on his head, snapping his neck in the fall.
    Lee Flesche leaves two small children, Gerald and Evelyn; his father, E. E. Flesche; three brothers, Ray and Harold of Grand Rapids, and Edward of North Dakota; and three sisters, Mabel of Basin City, Idaho, Diana of Duluth and Irene of Grand Rapids.

    Funeral services are being held today, with interment in Itasca cemetery. All of the surviving relatives except his brother Edward were expected here for the service."

    Lee is buried in Itasca Calvary Cemetery at Grand Rapids, Minnesota. (Plot I-B-12-2-9)


    There is a discrepancy in date of death--grave marker indicates he died on December 29, 1928, but military records show Lee died on December 26, 1928 or December 30, 1928.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):