Johnie Marion Lee's Obituary
Johnie Marion Lee was born in O’Brien Florida in Suwanee County on June 5, 1924. His father was John Hamilton Lee and his mother was Flora (Touchtone) Lee, both were Christian and brought up the family to go to church and live the humble Christian life.
Dad was proceeded in death by Russell Irwin Lee, his fifth son, Dale Edward Lee his third son and Doris Marie Lee, our mom and his wife of 76 years. Dad is survived by Jimmie and Susan Lee, Wayne and Sherry Lee, David and Jody Lee, Johnie M. Lee Jr. and Crystal Lee, 14 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren and 3 great, great grandchildren.
Our father had four brothers and four sisters. From the oldest to the youngest; Willard Lee, Sinnie Koon, Ardelia Hall, Lois Dasher, Virdie Sullivan, Barney Lee, Wilbur Lee, and Hugh Lee. All have preceded our father in death except Wilbur Lee at the age of 86.
Our mother preceded our father in death just three months before on October 15, 2020. Our brothers Dale and Rusty also preceded our father in death, Dale in September 2017 and Rusty in December of 1999.
Our father said that the farm where they lived was 200 acres. Another man owned the farm, but grandpa paid the man two hundred dollars a year to use the land. Dad said they would plow 80 acres of land by hand and some using mules. He said that the land was not very fertile, but they would plant three times a year and do the best that they could since they could not afford to fertilize. The rest of the land was used for livestock. The kids all worked the farm together, to clear the trees, they would cut the trees down and burn the stumps and then dig the stumps out. Now I know why my father liked that method for us boys when we had to take trees out on our little farm in Gainesville. Dad also used this method when he was a builder, paying some of the boys a quarter per tree to dig the trees out.
One day when our father was nine years old, he was riding a mule back to the old farmhouse because a lightning storm came up. As he was coming through the gate, he jumped off of the mule and the lightning hit the mule and killed it. The lightning ran along the fence and hit our father and knocked him unconscious. Dad’s brothers carried him into the house and laid him on the bed. Grandpa sent for the doctor but that took a day or two and the doctor said that dad was probably going to die anyway, just make him comfortable. On the third day, dad woke up and was standing on the side of the bed and wanted something to eat because he was hungry. The doctor came into the house and grandma asked what she should do. The doctor told her to give Marion anything he wants, and we will keep an eye on him. Dad had a pocketknife in his pocket when he was struck by lightning and it left him bruised from his hip down past his knee.
Dad said that having a preacher around the little farm was a common occurrence. Since there was no formal church, they would have a brush arbor church underneath the trees. Sometimes a preacher would come and stay two to three weeks and the family would house and feed the preacher. Dad said that grandpa had two corn cribs, one for the family and one for the preacher. The corn crib for the family had small corn cobs and the crib for the preacher had the full-size corn cobs, the preacher received the best.
In the 1930s the Great Depression was hard on the little farm. Having enough money to keep things running required that they keep part of the seed from the crops to use in the next garden. The family suffered a lot in the depression, but grandma credited God for getting them through.
When dad was in his late teens, in 1941, he went into the Navy. He was stationed in Pensacola Florida. Dad served over 2 years in the Navy, but he never had to see combat duty during World War II. In 1943 he came back home and asked Doris Marie Goss, a childhood friend, to marry him and follow him to Pensacola where they would live for two more years. Mom and dad married at the Lake City Courthouse, dad paid six dollars for the license and ceremony. Strangely enough, mom and dad lived with a preacher in Pensacola for over a year, dad can’t seem to get away from preachers.
Jimmie, the oldest son, was born in Pensacola while dad was still in the Navy. When dad left the Navy, he moved to Largo Florida where he took a job in an orange grove. Wayne, the second son was born in Clearwater Florida while dad was working for the orange grove company.
Mom and dad moved to Freemont Ohio for work near one of mom’s relatives. Dad got a job at a rubber plant where he would work for 5 years. Then he worked for a family friend in construction in the Freemont area. Dale, the third son, David the fourth son, and Rusty the fifth son were all born in Freemont Ohio.
Mom and dad moved back to Florida in 1955 and dad worked for Ridgeway Truss company for several years. The youngest son was born two years after in 1957, Johnie Marion Lee Jr. Dad wanted to build homes and he built several homes for the family. After the home on Millhopper road, us boys all called the pink house, we called it pink, but mom swore it was salmon-colored, it was pink! That was the home where we lived the longest and dad and the older brothers made it into a farm. Life was not easy there, my brothers removed a lot of trees so they could plant a garden large enough to sustain mom and dad and six boys. They plowed the garden of several acres with just a hand plow, but a better garden you have never seen. It produced enough vegetables to feed us for a year. We had a lot of fun there as well, football games, baseball games, and other outside activities in the front yard.
Dad became a building contractor and the amazing part of that career, dad never had to travel far to build his houses, most of the houses he built were in Gainesville Florida, which in itself is a blessing of God. Dad built a lot of houses in Gainesville and eventually, mom and dad went into business together, dad as a builder and mom as a realtor. Their company was called Lee Real Estate and Builders.
While still living on Millhopper road, Jimmie went into the Navy and was stationed in Maryland. Wayne was called into the ministry and he went to Southeastern Bible College where he met his wife Sherry. Dale went to the Navy CB’s during the Vietnam war and built barracks for the soldiers in Vietnam.
We moved several times after the older brothers left home, dad would build a house, we would live in it for a while and we would sell the house and dad would build another. On one of these houses on Millhopper road, dad would fall off of a block wall and broke both of his ankles. No one was on the job and dad crawled to the truck, pulled himself up into the seat, and drove himself to the hospital using a hammer handle to press the gas and the brake.
In the last house that mom and dad built, they lived there nineteen years. It was in this house we made an amazing discovery. While we were all sitting around the dining room table, each with our families, dad revealed that he was not actually born on June 6, 1924. Dad said that he was born on June 5th but the doctor didn’t make it to the house until June 6th. We had celebrated dad’s birthday on June 6th for almost 80 years to discover we had the wrong date. The second surprise was the birth certificate did not read Johnie Marion Lee but Marion Johnie Lee. Dad said that he was named after an uncle named Marion but he never cared for that uncle, so he changed his name to Johnie Marion. The bad thing about this surprise is Johnie Marion Lee Jr. is not really a junior anymore.
Our father was a great man of God, He was a hard worker, a faithful husband, a great father, and a great representation of our heavenly Father. Dad worked a full-time job after he retired from being a building contractor until he was eighty-two years old. Dad didn’t speak much but he listened well, he always made us feel important. Dad had a quick wit and an amazing sense of humor even until his last days.
Dad never stopped. Even when dad and mom moved in with Johnie and Crystal, he continued to work, or as dad would say, I have to do my part. Up until three weeks before dad passed, he was mowing the lawn (6-3/4 acres and weed eating at Johnie’s house. He could be found in the back of Johnie’s barn taking apart air conditioners and cleaning up.
Our father was an amazing man of God as well. Dad did a devotion every morning and read his bible every night before going to bed. He attended Johnie’s church for the last 7 years of his life and he never missed a Sunday. Dad could be found always coming in, taking money out of his pocket and putting it in the offering box, and then finding his seat. He worshipped and sang at every service always loving the Bible stories of the old and New Testament. Johnie said that as he was singing to dad in the hospital, even though dad was not conscious, he was mouthing the words to the old hymns. Dad had a great tenor voice even at 96 years old. Our father is now singing with the angels in heaven.
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