Lee Allen Wurz

Born to Al and Dorothy Wurz at the Parks Victory Hospital on Jefferson St. in Napa. He joined his sisters, Claudia and Laurie, and brother, Ron, on Wurz Ranches, which was at the time the largest prune orchard in the Valley. He and his brother would work to keep the farm up while their father Al was flying planes for the Naval air station in Alameda. One of his favorite childhood memories was his father got grounded by his superiors for a low pass over their home in Napa.

Lee had a passion for cars and a back breaking work ethic which led him to his favorite car, a 1966 Chevelle. If he wasn't busy on the farm you could find him running around with friends and playing pranks that would drive his mother Dorothy crazy. He joined the military and was deployed to Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, where he received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for being combat wounded in a fire fight outside of Cu Chi city Vietnam. He was a E4 point man in the 27th infantry regiment wolfhounds. He was a great soldier and had some wild stories about playing with explosives with his best friend in the military, Peter Hague, that shouldn't be printed on paper.

Lee was many things to many people. To this country he was a wounded veteran. To me he was a father and to my two girls - grandpa. To many more a good friend or war buddy. To strangers he was a friendly patriot although not many people were strangers to him. And to his career one of the best heavy equipment operators behind the controls.

He was a truck driver, and owned his company with three trucks hauling wine equipment for several original Napa wineries. He managed and built Potrero Hills landfill for over 20 years where he retired. After retirement, he started building shopping centers in Arizona and a VFW post in Dewey. He also helped build many race tracks in Nevada. If there was a tractor and an empty seat that's where you would find him with a big smile.

He left California many years ago and had been residing in Fernley, NV. He enjoyed taking long adventures on his rhino, watching top gun school in Fallon and any chance he would get back on a piece of heavy equipment.

He is survived by his two sisters: Laurie Beaufils, Claudia Luque; and his brother, Ron Wurz; his son, Lucas Wurz (daughter-in-law Emily Wurz) and two grand daughters: Dottie and Winnie Wurz.

He left quite a legacy of life filled with many stories that he shared with many people, and in his final days he moved back to Napa to be close to Lucas and Emily and his two grand girls where he was happy and said he lived a full life and had no regrets. He was loved and will be missed every day.

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