Gold Medalist Lee Dyment
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” - Anthony J. D’Angelo, writer (Mr. D’Angelo must have known our friend Lee Dyment as he wrote a perfect description of her).
Leonora (Skauhellen) Dyment was born in Fana, Norway, Dec. 12, 1928 in a beautiful village full of peacefulness and serenity. Lee was the second of five children and the family was considered by many to be rather well-to-do at the time. Their home was located on the Fana fjord and, as was the custom of Norwegians, entire families spent summers in the water and snow in the winters. Lee learned swimming, sailing, ski jumping, and slalom skiing at an early age. Before going to school each day, she swam 10 laps around the bay in front of her home.
Her family’s peaceful family life came to a sudden end when German Nazis invaded their beloved country. She was only 10 years old but still remembers quite vividly the fliers dropping from planes above notifying the people that the Nazis were taking over.
“The next day bombings began with airplanes filling the skis shooting down on us,” Lee said. “It was terrifying.”
Quickly her family gathered what they could and fled to the neighbor’s house to take cover in their basement. Lee and her older brother would sneak back to their home undercover through the berry bushes to fetch more blankets. When they returned Lee’s hair was askew as a bullet had come a little too close to her head. German occupation of Norway began on April 9, 1940 when they invaded the neutral Scandinavian country.
Lee recalls the first thing the Germans did was to outlaw all guns owned by Norwegians and they were required to turn all their weapons over to the “new government.” Despite the “new law” she remembers her father hiding his rifle in between the walls of their home.
Food was now severely rationed and each family was only allowed one loaf of bread each day, no matter what size family it was. There was no butter for the bread and no oil of any kind.
When her mother was able to get extra flour she would make bread but because there wasn’t any cooking oil, she had to line the bread pans with sawdust so the bread wouldn’t stick to the pan.
“We were lucky to have lived relatively close to a large farm where we were now able to survive the famine imposed,” Lee said. “The Germans allowed us to fish but they took all the good fish – herring and salmon.”
Lee remembers several German soldiers came to her house one day looking for her brothers, but her father distracted them by offering some dried cooked fish. They ate it and actually paid for it!
Thankfully they didn’t find her brothers, who had joined the underground and were hiding in the mountains. They built shelters from rockslides and kept a watch over many of the families.
Germans then controlled Norway until the capitulation of their forces in Europe in May 1945. Norway survived the invasion and in 1945 celebrated with parades and flag waving.
Some relatives of Lee left Norway before the war and settled in Massachusetts. The families kept in touch with her via mail that was filled with stories about how wonderful America was and they urged her to join them.
In 1950, at 21, Lee boarded a ship bound for America. Upon her arrival she confessed that she found the streets of Boston dirty and crowded. When asked why she didn’t return she replied, “I didn’t want to admit I had made a mistake!”
She settled in with her relatives who were living Melrose. Determined to establish her life in her new country, she enrolled in advanced English at the Bryant and Stratton Business School. While employed at a sporting goods store, Lee also taught skiing at Mount Hood, joined the WMCA and swam every day.
Lee met her husband, Alton Neil Dyment, at a New Year’s Eve party. She was 24 when they married. Their wedding was featured on the NBC TV show “Bride and Groom” and the honeymoon prize was a trip to a dude ranch in upstate New York. She was also featured on the Betty Crocker Radio show sharing her Norwegian cookie secrets.
In 1961, the family, now with two children, moved to East Saugus and it wasn’t long before Lee began to make her mark in her new town. The list of achievements is amazing considering that she came from so far away and had to learn a new language and a brand new way of life.
She is an accomplished baker, a blue ribbon gardener, a ski instructor, still swims each day at a local gym, a longstanding member of the Sons of Norway, a member of the choir of her church, and an active member of many organizations among them the Saugus Garden Club and the MEG Foundation to name a few.
Her friends, family and neighbors can attest to the fact that when there is a call for assistance Lee is the first one there and the last one to leave. Lee never speaks a disheartening word, is always positive and her endless energy never stops even though she is approaching 90 years of age this December.
Lee is proud of the fact that her beloved Norway brought home so many medals in the recent winter Olympics and when asked how they managed that feat – she knew.
“Growing up in Norway our government encouraged and supported the need to participate in all types of sports,” she said. “Accomplishing a skill, no matter what level, instills confidence and is a character builder. What you learn as an athlete follows through in everything else you do in life - you focus on working to excel, to achieve – and to never quit.”
They must be doing something right in Norway as Norwegian athletes have won a total of 148 medals at the Summer Olympics, with sailing and shooting as the top medal-producing sports. In the Winter Olympic Games, Norway has won 329 medals (118 gold) — by a considerable margin, more than any other nation with cross-country skiing and speed skating as the top sports.
Her zest for life and her belief that, with a positive attitude, all things are possible.
Lee’s gracious personality, the sunshine and good cheer she shares, along with her zest for life has qualified her for her very own gold medal from all of us who are fortunate to have such a remarkable lady in our mist.
Lee at 20 years of age