Wesley W. Lee

On Sunday morning, January 15, Wesley William Lee joined his Lord, his wife Jeanne of 66 years, his infant daughter Martha, and perhaps his beloved Belgian Tervuren, Lobo, in heaven.       In his own words, Wes described his birth: "I was born in a typical Minnesota blizzard early in the morning of February 28, 1920 in a farm house five miles south and two miles west of Dodge Center, MN.  My mother told me that Dr. Flores got to our place with his horse and sleigh about twenty minutes before me."         Wes grew up on farms in Minnesota and Iowa. He married Mary Jeanne Meetze on June 17, 1944. After five years in the Army during WWII, they took up farming in northern Iowa. In 1956, they moved to Lake Worth, FL, for three years, where they owned and operated a Western Auto store. They bought a farm east of Lamar in 1959. In addition to farming, Wes owned The Land Office, a real estate company specializing in farmland. He also pioneered the first self-storage business in Lamar, on Hwy. 160 just east of town.          After 37 years in Lamar, Wes & Jeanne moved to Columbia, MO, to be near family. In 2005, they moved to Albuquerque, NM, where they shared a home with their youngest son.        Wes loved farming, church, woodworking, RV travels in his retirement, all little kids and most big ones. He was a formidable Scrabble player!        He was preceded in death by his wife in 2010 and two daughters, Martha in 1951 and Christie in 2007, his only sister and two of his three brothers. He is survived by sons Eric (& Ann) Lee of Misawa, Japan, Andy (& Diane) Lee of Albuquerque, NM, and Patrick (& Cathy) Lee of Ashland, MO. Grandchildren number 13: Josh and Aaron Maddox (Christie’s); Chris Lee and Tori Wiessner (Eric’s); Jessica Chicago, Katie Price and Anthony Lee (Andy’s); and Rebecca Haasis, Shannon Hein, Joanna Graham, Martha Lewis, Jervon Johnson and Jerry Johnson (Patrick’s). Five great-grandchildren round out Wes’ legacy: Aiden Chicago, Adara & Cale Hein, and Elsa & Lily Haasis.         Services will be at 2 PM, Saturday, January 21, at Daniel Funeral Home in Lamar.  Burial will be in Lake Cemetery.          Memorial donations can be made in his name to a favored charity, East Central Ministries, which serves the poor in Albuquerque.  Please earmark them for “Samaritan Services,” a division of ECM that serves widows and orphans. Donations can be made online at www.eastcentralministries.org or through Daniel Funeral Home.