HAYNES, LEE FLETCHER 79,

of Minneola passed away Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Lee is survived by a son Dennis L. Haynes of Escondido, CA, daughter Tammy L. Scalise of Longwood, FL, grandson Scott F. Haynes of Escondido, CA, brothers James R. Haynes of Falls of Rough, KY and Gary M. Haynes of Owensboro, KY.

Lee enlisted in the U.S. Navy upon graduation from Daviess County High School in Owensboro, KY in 1947. He was at the Great Lakes training base for 13 weeks. Upon completion of the recruit training, he was chosen by the Navy, based on testing criteria, to be assigned to the Headquarters of the Third Naval District in New York City located at 90 Church St. in lower Manhattan. Lee was on the leading edge of the Computer Age. He chose to stay in that field throughout his entire civilian career in technical and executive managerial positions.

He was a computer pioneer and also a "change agent" in their application in large corporations. He received many recognition and monetary awards throughout his career. These include several speaking awards and once was chosen as the best speaker by 5,000 of his peers. He received a BS Business Adm. from Kentucky Wesleyan. This was timewise far ahead of the later computer degrees, and, was appointed to the Graduate School of Public Administration at Cornell University where he completed a condensed MBA. He also worked directly with many of the staffs at Harvard, MIT, etc. (Ivy League schools). He had an illustrious career with Texas Gas in Owensboro, KY, General Electric Large Jet Engine Division in Evendale, OH, B.F. Goodrich in Akron, OH, Martin Marietta and later Lockheed Martin in Orlando, FL.

He worked on site at NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Kennedy, FL, Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX and Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena, Ca. He was close to the NASA Space Program and there (sic) many diversified technologies. He also performed consulting for Lockheed Martin after his retirement. He established a consulting firm, "Technology Transfer" whereby he was President. He worked at the Director Level with world-wide responsibilities and interfaced directly with top management in large corporations. He took pride in the fact that all projects were completed on time and there were no budget overruns.

He did extensive world-wide travel including six continents and over 40 countries. He was estimated to have flown over 1.5 million miles. He completed an autobiography in 2006 which contained 325 pages and had in excess of 700 mostly colored photographs. He had an insatiable desire to learn details about new things which continued throughout his life.

He greatly enjoyed music and had a large musical collection and had seen hundreds of well known musical artists in person. He enjoyed participating in and viewing many types of sports at the high school, collage, (sic) and professional levels. He also developed an Autobiography hardback that consisted of 325 pages and approximately 700 colored photos. These were distributed to family and close friends.

Friends may call at the funeral home Sunday, April 26 from 2-4PM to pay their respects. Funeral service will be held Monday, April 27 at 10AM in the First Baptist Church of Clermont with Pastor Ben Bond officiating.

Interment and military funeral honors will follow in Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL. Becker Family Funeral Home, 806 West Minneola Avenue, Clermont, FL. 352-394-7121