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GRACE LOVINIA GARNER LEE, beloved wife of Otis Lee, Sr. (Deceased) and dearly beloved mother of Margaret Grace, Otis Lee, Jr., Victoria Ann Lee, Thomas Marshall Lee (Deceased), Dianna Lee Glover, Rudolph Clifford Lee, Hazel Ann Lee and Cynthia Cozette Lee went to meet Our Lord, Jesus Christ on October 13, 2009. She was the sister to Johnny Reed (Deceased), Hazel Garner Patterson (Deceased), Thomas Garner (Deceased) and Henrietta Garner Thomas (Deceased). She leaves behind seven children, two nieces, Dr. Sara Ann Thomas and Barbara Reed; many cousins, twelve grandchildren and many great-grand children. Mrs. Lee celebrated life as the grandmother of Verona Jenkins Lee, Darren Lee (Deceased), Clinton Bridges Lee, Jamal Brimage Lee, Taufiki Lee, Adia Lee, Karama Wise Lee, Angelina Glover Lee, Gregg Glover Lee, Shannon Dearolf Lee (Deceased), Cherie-Grace Dearolf Lee and Lance Lee. Mrs. Lee was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 3, 1914. At the age of three her parents Annadelia Gibson Garner and Marshall Garner, the son of a Civil War veteran and African American slave, Warren Garner, bought her to Pittsburgh to grow up on Gassam Hill. As a youth growing up in Pittsburgh she became an active church member of Ebenezer Baptist Church. In 1929 she graduated from Fifth Avenue High School at the age of 16 years old. Unable to afford college she found domestic work. In 1940 she married Otis Lee, Sr. who went on to begin his own Lee’s Rubbish Removal business and together they had 8 children. Mrs. Lee’s husband tragically died of leukemia in 1956. However, Mrs. Lee went on to manage the Lee’s Rubbish Removal business successfully for 18 years after her husband’s death. Mrs. Lee served as a deacon on the board of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA and was known for her charity work. For one decade she sent artifacts to the St. Joseph Indian School. She relocated in Philadelphia in 1976 and worked ten years at John Wannamaker Department Store. She retired in 1986. During her retirement she traveled to many places including Hawaii, England, France, Italy, Israel, Nassau, Mexico and Puerto Rico. She loved people and learned to speak German and Russian in her spare time. She also became affiliated with Temple University Association for Retired Persons (TARP) and the Senior Citizen’s Group at Broad and Lombard in Philadelphia. She attended Holy Communion Lutheran Church Services and First Baptist Church until her illness prevented her from going to church. Her hobbies included painting, singing in the senior citizen choir, sewing, reading poetry and writing. She was a Life Time Member of Weight Watchers for 41 years. She was deeply loved by all family and friends and will be sorely missed. We celebrate her life today by singing her favorite hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

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Grace Lovinia Garner Lee

June 3, 1914 - October 13, 2009