Mary Lee was born April 3, 1936 in Brady, TX to parents Clara J. and William M. Hill. She passed away at home after a long illness at age 83 on September, 24 2019 in Santa Barbara, CA. Mary grew up on her parent’s farm near Hext, TX and had fond memories of life on the farm. Her parents then moved to Orange, CA where they worked for the Sunkist orange packing plant and Mary attended school full time. In 1952 her parents moved to a 40 acre dairy farm in the Copay area near Orland in northern CA. At Orland H.S. Mary was part of an award winning choir, worked on the school newspaper, was a member of the CA History Club “Copa de Oro”, and was on the honor roll in her junior and senior years. In 1954 she was one of the speakers at her graduation and received a scholarship to the University of CA.
Mary started college at UC Davis in the fall of 1954 with a major in home economics. To help pay her expenses she worked in the men’s cafeteria and in her senior year at the girl’s dorm reception desk. She graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics and continued in graduate school to obtain a General Secondary Teaching Credential.
Mary started her teaching career in 1958 at Alda Jr. High School in Fontana, CA. In 1960 she was hired to teach home economics at La Colina Jr. High School in Santa Barbara, CA. There she met her future husband Industrial Arts teacher Everett R. Lee and they were married July 2, 1961 at the Church of Christ in Orland CA. In 1963 her husband accepted a new position at a senior high school in Sacramento, CA. For the next 18 years they lived in Carmichael and Citrus Heights in the east Sacramento area where Mary was a housewife until her 3 children were old enough for her to go back to work. Then she worked in a fabric store and taught sewing classes, machine embroidery, and clothing construction and tailoring for a Singer sewing machine store.
In 1981 her husband left the teaching profession and started a new career in the electronics industry in Goleta, CA. They moved back to Santa Barbara and Mary worked for Betty’s Fabrics as Assistant Manager of the home decorating department. After that she did dressmaking at home for a while and then was a part time teller at the Calle Real branch of the Bank of America.
Mary and her husband retired on the same day in February 1995. They enjoyed traveling and camping in their RV’s, visiting National Parks and historic sites, and camping at many CA State Beach Parks. Mary also accompanied her husband in their RV on many black powder rendezvous camping trips and continued doing sewing work at home and making beautiful quilts for her family.
Mary is survived by her husband of 58 years Everett R. Lee; her 3 children Barbara A. and Eric A. Lee and Debora K. Rinehart; 4 grand children Cody and Christopher Lee and Tara and Matthew Rinehart; and a new great grandson Aiden Alan Lee. A memorial service and celebration of her life will take place at the Turnpike Church of Christ at 2:00 P.M. on October 19, 2019. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Turnpike Church of Christ or the Santa Barbara Visiting Nurses Hospice. Burial arrangements at Goleta Cemetery are by Pueblo Del Rey Funeral Services.
