Lee Prescott Tolman

Portsmouth, RI - Lee Prescott Tolman, 94, of 11 Fox Run Road, Portsmouth, RI, died Friday, April 3, 2009 at Charlton Memorial Hospital, Fall River, MA. Born in New York, NY, on June 7, 1914, he was the son of the late Charles P. and Hazel Kelley Tolman.He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1936 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.Mr. Tolman worked in the private sector before he was activated with the US Army Reserve to serve in World War II as a 2nd Lieutenant. Following World War II, he returned to work in the private sector until he was reactivated to serve during the Korean War. He had worked as an engineer at Sandia Air Force Base, NM and Rock Island Arsenal, IN for many years, retiring in 1971 from the US Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. He lived oversees before returning to the United States in 1975, settling in Portsmouth, RI. Mr. Tolman was a Junior Navigator at the US Power Squadron in Newport and a member and Past Commander of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. He was a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Castle Hill Flotilla, the US Power Squadron the Newport Squadron, the Royal Yachting Association-United Kingdom, the US Naval Sailing Association, a member of the Lodge of Masons #22, a member of St. Johns Masonic Lodge # 1 Portsmouth, RI, a member of Channing Memorial Church, Newport, RI, the Newport Rifle Club, and the Coasters Harbor Navy Yacht Club. He is survived by three daughters, Mary Happy MacNeill of Linwood, MA, Karen Krautter and her husband Gary of Summerfield, FL, and Catherine Bigelow and her husband Larry of Moline, IL; six grandchildren, Kenneth MacNeill Jr. and his wife Kitty, James MacNeill and his wife Tracey, Michael Woodward and his wife Audrey, Kevin Woodward and his wife Tonia, Nicholas Krautter, Michael Krautter; and seven great-grandchildren.He was predeceased by his late wife Helen M. Tebbets Tolman, whom he was married to from 1935 to 1940, and also his late wife Myrtle I.D. Thiel Tolman. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 4 pm in Channing Memorial Church, 135 Pelham Street, Newport, RI.Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Channing Memorial Church Steeple Fund, 135 Pelham Street, Newport, RI 02840 or to a charity of your choice