Robert Lee Lehn

Robert Lee Lehn

Sparrowbush, NY

Robert Lee Lehn, a lifetime Port Jervis area resident, died on Wednesday, July 16 at his home in Sparrowbush from complications related to Parkinson's Disease; he was 88.

Born on Maiden Lane in Port Jervis, NY on July 30th, 1936 to Helen (Siebenhuener) and Jacob J. Lehn, Bob was the fifth of seven children.

Bob graduated from Port Jervis High School in 1954 and was always proud of the fact that he was the Class President. For years, he enjoyed his monthly get togethers with his classmates and would bask in the "you haven't aged a bit!" comments he would get from his fellow '54ers.

Bob met his wife Sally (Weeks) at the Ellenville Fireman's parade in 1954 and the rest, as they say, is history. Married August 16th, 1959, Bob and Sally spent 31 years together, often traveling cross country so he could big game hunt; he was always up for a roadtrip with her navigating alongside.

After high school, he found employment as a longtime truck driver for GLF, Rupp SouthernTier and Yellow Freight. In the 1980s, Bob went to work for Orange County as the weighmaster at the Port Jervis Transfer Station, where he retired after years of service. Bob spent his entire life as a "hobby" mason, who learned his skills working alongside his paternal grandfather and father. He was always proud to point out homes in the TriState area those men worked on. These masonary skills served him well, as alongside his father, he built not only his own home, but also a home for his sister Marilynn and her husband Bob.

In 1977, he and his father built a brick garage up the road from his home, and he and Sally opened a small sportsmans' shop. Lehn's Shot & Knot Shop was a labor of love for Bob, who was a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and an avid hunter and shooting sports enthusiast. For many years, the business was a local hangout for men that would become his lifelong friends and it allowed Bob to visit sportsman's clubs all over the Hudson Valley and beyond, delivering supplies necessary for trap and sporting clay shooting and allowing those who enjoyed to hunt a local shop to support their hobby.

In addition to being an avid hunter, Bob was also a woodworker and accomplished wood turner, who began woodworking in high school and carried those skills throughout his life. Wood turning was something he seriously revisited in his retirement, when he was able to share his craft with others at local craft shows and street fairs. He also found that retirement gave him the time to drive through the United States and Canada, with his companion Pauline, visiting all the places and things he had wanted to see in his lifetime. Bob was known to often say "I've driven more miles backwards than you have forward!" .

A member of the Teamsters Union and the CSEA of Orange County, Bob was also a past member of the Swing Gate and Beaverbrook Hunting Clubs, an honorary member of numerous sportsmans' clubs in the Tri State area and a Lifetime Endowment Member of the National Rifle Association. Bob was also very proud to be a Free and Accepted Mason of 67 years in the Port Jervis Masonic Lodge No. 328, Grand Lodge F.&A.M of New York.

Left behind to cherish his memory are his daughters, Lisa Perkowski, of Port Jervis and Karin Lehn and her husband, Lynn Skinner, of Durham, NC, his beloved grandsons, Caleb and Ethan Perkowski, of Port Jervis, his sisters Helen Eileen Schnier of Port Washington and Marilynn Carroll of Sparrowbush. He is further survived by his sister in law, Barbara Semonite of Wurstboro, brother in law Peter Weeks and his wife Margaret of Woodbridge, CT, numerous nieces and nephews and his granddogs, Star, Olive and "his hound dog" Cash. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Sally, his siblings, Jack, Joan (Donohue), Barbara (Newcomb), and Russ, sister in law Ferne, and brothers in law Richard Schnier, Donald Donohue, Frank Newcomb and Robert Carroll. He was also predeceased by his son in law, Guy Perkowski and his long time companion, Pauline Schultz.

The family would like to thank Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties for the short, but compassionate care. Additionally they are extremely grateful and send heartfelt thanks to his homecare team: Cali, Lisa, Shirley, Rochelle, Christy, Charles, Cherelle and Lauren. Finally, there are no words to express how especially grateful the family is for the care and love provided by his "main girl", Linda Matza. Linda and her own family became a huge part of Bob's life and he came to love her daughters, Meghan and Miley like the granddaughters he never had. Linda, with her dedicated care and love, allowed him to remain in the home he built alongside his father, until his very last day.

A visitation with Masonic services will be held on Sunday, July 20, 2025 from 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm at the Gray-Parker Funeral Home, Inc., 100 E. Main St., Port Jervis, NY 12771.

Funeral services will be on Monday, July 21, 2025 at 2:00 pm at Gray-Parker Funeral Home, Inc., 100 E. Main St., Port Jervis, NY 12771 with Rev. Nancy Vonderhorst officiating. Burial will follow at the Pine Hill Cemetery, Sparrowbush, NY.

In lui of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Sally J. Lehn Memorial Scholarship Fund, Debbie Rutt, Port Jervis CSD, 150 Pike Street, Port Jervis, NY 12771 or to the Sullivan County Conservation Club, Inc., PO Box 9, Monticello, NY 12701. Funds sent to the Conservation Club will be used exclusively to benefit the club's ongoing youth safety and education programs to insure the continuation of hunting and the shooting sports.