About Us

Dona Lee Carrier

1961 U.S. ice dancing silver medalist

Dona Lee Carrier, 20, had never competed at the national level until 1961. The only child of Reverend Floyd and Eleanor Carrier, she was born in National City, Calif. When she was 11 she began skating in Seattle. After a move to Troy, N.Y., she trained with Mary Lou Butler in both singles and ice dancing. The Carrier family moved to Southern California in 1958, and Dona Lee found a welcoming community in the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club (LAFSC). Coached by Bert Wright at the Polar Palace in Hollywood, she had difficulty finding a permanent ice dancing partner. In club and regional competitions she competed in pairs and ice dancing; her partners included Roger Campbell, Howie Harrold and Dr. Robert Wilkins. When U.S. World Team members Roger Campbell and Yvonne Littlefield dissolved their partnership, Lee and Campbell began skating together in September 1960, with Bill Kipp as their coach. When they claimed the 1961 Southwest Pacific Regional and 1961 Pacific Coast Sectional ice dancing titles, it marked the first time Lee had won a competition. They earned a berth on the 1961 U.S. World Team when they placed second at that year's U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They were delighted to capture the silver at the North American Figure Skating Championships in Philadelphia.

Bio written by Patricia Shelley Bushman, author of Indelible Tracings.