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Henry Lacey O誰eal, known as Lacey by his family,
co-workers and a sea of dear friends, died at St. Peter Hospital on
January 8, 2010. He was born in Okinawa, Japan, where his father was
stationed in the Army. He is preceded in death by his parents Henry
Landreth O誰eal and Catherine Addie O誰eal.
Lacey called Olympia home, but spent most of the last 12 years at sea on
the NOAA government research vessel MacArthur II, traveling all over the
Pacific Ocean and visiting ports from Alaska to South America. Lacey
began his service with NOAA as a Seaman, but was rapidly promoted to a
Senior Survey Technician, a position responsible for collecting weather
data and helping others conducting scientific research. Aboard the ship,
Lacey was able to indulge his lifelong passion for photography. He took
thousands of wonderful pictures of whales, dolphins, and other marine
life. Those photos became gifts in the form of framed artwork, cards and
calendars. One of his photos even was featured in a poster for a
Smithsonian Museum.
Before joining NOAA, Lacey retired from the Army as a Staff Sergeant in
the 82nd Airborne. Lacey began his military service at 18 when he joined
the Air Force and was stationed in Thailand during the tail end of the
Vietnam War.
In the early 80s Lacey returned to civilian life and put on a shirt and
tie to sell office supplies and equipment. He found that he missed
military life and decided to ease his way back in by joining the
National Guard. Eventually, Lacey embraced his Army upbringing, joined
the Army and was stationed at Fort Kobe in Panama where he fought in
Operation Just Cause to overturn the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.
Near the end of his Army service, Lacey bought a Harley Davidson
motorcycle. Over the past 15 years, riding became a huge part of Lacey痴
life and it became difficult to catch Lacey not wearing a Harley
Davidson t-shirt. He collected well over a hundred of them during his
rides all over the country and as gifts.
Lacey lived his life all over the world, and while he may not have been
able to spend as much time as he would have liked with his family and
friends at home, he deeply enriched their lives. This is especially true
for his daughter Stephanie Benfield, his his son-in-law Brad Benfield,
and his grandchildren Cooper and Nathan. He gave to them in huge and
amazing ways. He is survived by his brother Tom O誰eal, and sisters
Laura O誰eal, Brenda Starr and Toni Counse. An opportunity to celebrate
Lacey痴 life and share great stories about him will be held at 3 p.m. on
Saturday January 23rd at the Olympia Armory, 515 Eastside St SE.
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