Thursday, October 1, 2026
Charles William Lean was born on April 16, 1942, in Spokane, Washington, to Bert William “Bill” Lean and Diane Jane Cooil Lean.
Called Chuck, he attended John Rogers High School and graduated in 1960. He played the saxophone and led the band as the drum major. At the University of Washington, he majored in political science.
In 1964, Chuck married Carol “Sue” Plewman, whom he had known since high school. The next year, they traveled to Europe camping in a Volkswagen bus for 4 1/2 months.
Returning to Seattle, Chuck attended the University of Washington School of Law where he co-authored a Law Review article on the garnishment of wages for debt without notice. It was quoted the very next year by the United States Supreme Court in a case that would make prior notice mandatory. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree.
Upon graduation in 1968, Chuck became a law clerk for Justice Marshall Neill of the Washington State Supreme Court in Olympia where the Leans would live for 56 years.
In 1969, Chuck Lean joined the Washington State Attorney General’s office. He worked for the Washington Pollution Control Commission, which the next year (after the Santa Barbara oil spill, which inspired Earth Day) would become the Department of Ecology. There he won major water pollution control cases, which required pulp mills to put in secondary treatment. He wrote the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) guidelines. He served as the lead attorney denying the Northern Tier proposal to put an oil pipeline under Puget Sound.
Retiring from the state in 1992, Chuck joined the Seattle law firm Perkins Coie where he focused on water rights. In 2005, due to his significant work in the foundation of water rights law in Washington state, a long interview was published in the Department of Ecology’s 35th anniversary oral history entitled, “Historically Speaking.”
Chuck and Sue raised two children in Olympia, Michael and Sandy. The family went camping often at Salt Creek on the Olympic Peninsula and once went to Disneyland. Chuck played games and read stories to the kids. He hid their Easter baskets really hard. He enjoyed all of the holidays, especially Halloween.
He had a great interest in military history and strategy games. He painted model train cars and also miniature tanks setting them up in battle.
Chuck Lean was kindly and had a great sense of humor. He loved cats and fed the birds.
Once Michael and Sandy had children of their own, Chuck could be seen laying on the floor playing with his grandchildren.
He supported Sue’s historical projects and marched in the Lakefair Parade entries celebrating the centennial of Washington statehood in 1989 and later for the 2010 centennial of Washington state women winning the vote.
Together, Chuck and Sue attended conferences of the Ephemera Society of America and the National Carousel Association.
In the spring of 2024, the Leans moved to Santa Barbara in order to be in the care of their daughter and family. Chuck passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Nov. 1, 2025, in Santa Barbara, California.
Chuck is survived by his wife Sue, son Michael Bruce and daughter Sandra Suzanne Patterson (husband Don), grandchildren Tyler Michael and Kata Lean, and Julius, Theodore (Theo), Joy Maddalena and Martha Caprera Patterson and sister Sharon (D.D.) Lean Schnaible. He is fondly remembered by all.
