John Roderick Lee, 79, husband of Emily Jackson Lee, made his final departure from this world to a place God had prepared for him, on Sunday, October 14, 2018.
Born November 17, 1938, in Latta, he was the son of the late Woodrow Lee and the late Emaline Dew Lee. He was a member of Sumter First Church of God. John started working toward his future at age 7, selling Grit Newspaper and Cloverine Salve at the corner in Latta at Main Street and Hwy. 301. He bought his first car paying cash at age 14. He grew up on hard times and knew his life had to be working to get ahead. John attended Columbia College and he decided he wanted to go into real estate and property management. That soon developed into what is known as John R. Lee Enterprises. John stayed committed to his work until his stroke in October of 2017.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years; two children, Phyllis Evon “Polly” Lee of Columbia and Dwight Travis Lee of Florida; two grandchildren, Jennifer “Jenna” Lee Beane (Brian) and Patrick Schyuler Lee (Kristen); six great-grandchildren, Isabella, Landon, Juliana, Stella, Ocean, and Nina; a brother, Jeffrey W. Lee, Sr. (Shirley) of Florence; two sisters, Katie Jean Elliott of Florence and Jeilda “Jill” Buckner (Jerry) of Sumter.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at Sumter First Church of God with Rev. Ron Bower officiating.
The family will receive friends from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday at Sumter First Church of God
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Sumter First Church of God Building Fund, 1835 Camden Hwy., Sumter, SC 29153. Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements.