Posted: 11/13/02

Former FL resident Lee Hart, 70, dies

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Lee Hart, the woman who helped build Hart Drug during its 35-year history in Forest Lake, has died.

Hart died on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester from complications following spinal surgery on Nov. 1 at St. Maryís. She was 70.

Hart was an instrumental part of the Hart Drug business in Forest Lake which operated from 1962 until 1997. Her husband, Mike, was the chief pharmacist at the business which started in the downtown and moved to the Lake Shoppes in the 1980s where the business continues as a Snyder Drug operation.

Since selling the business in 1997, the Harts have split time between Miami Beach, FL, and a second home in Bigfork, Montana, Lee Hartís native state.

ìShe was a big help in a lot of directions,î Mike Hart said of his wifeís role in the store. During their years here, Lee Hart ran the gift department and did most of the buying, Mike Hart said.

She was also active in community affairs. Lee Hart was president of the former District Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and a member of the volunteer organization for many years. She was also involved with area cancer society fund-raising events, he said.

Met in Minnesota

Mike Hart and the former Lee Kohles met at the University of Minnesota in 1952 where both were students.

Lee Hart was born in Conrad, MT on Sept. 11, 1932 and grew up in Sunburst, MT where she lived on a small farm. She graduated from high school in Great Falls, MT.

After spending a year each at the University of Montana and Montana State, Hart moved to the University of Minnesota where she was able to study speech pathology, a career line that could not be found at Montana schools, Mike Hart said.

She graduated from the University in 1954 earning a bachelor of arts degree from the College of Science, Literature and Arts. She continued to work on education credits while raising a family, her husband said.

The Harts were married on July 31, 1954 in Montana. They moved to Forest Lake eight years later when they started their business career.

Memorial service

A memorial service for Lee Hart will take place at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 20 at St., Lukeís Church, Summit and Lexington in St. Paul.

She is survived by her husband, Mike, Miami Beach, FL; children Kimberly (Doug) Hart-Baldridge, Portland, OR, Thomas (Deborah) Hart, Ogden, UT, Jennifer (Philip) Hart-Abraham, Shoreview, and Jonathan Hart, Delray Beach, FL; and four grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by one son, Michael in 1995; one sister, Joyce White; and her parents Wilbur and Junia Kohles.

Memorials are preferred to the donorís choice in Lee Hartís memory.

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