Winthrop Lee Bradshaw, Jr., age 83 of Columbus and Forest Lake, passed away peacefully of old age on July 27, 2017.
Captain Lee has made his final departure to points unknown. He was well known and respected throughout the aviation community, which was such a big part of his life. Lee was born on December 17, 1933 to Lee Sr. and Billie Yates in Maryland, and was close to his step-father, Emerson Phillips. He joined the USAF in 1951 and left as an aviation cadet in 1955. He then went to Parks College of Aeronautical Technology in St. Louis and graduated in 1958 with a B.S. in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. Lee was hired by Northwest Airlines in October 1958 and moved to Minnesota, and lived here ever since. In 1974, while flying a Pitts Special biplane doing aerobatics at an air show, Lee had a terrible crash and was informed he
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