Longtime Davis resident Mary N. Lee died Friday, Sept. 19, after a nearly three-year-long battle with cancer. She was 76.
Born on Jan. 8, 1932 in Oakland, she was the sixth of 11 children in the Moun Ock and Me Shee Ng family.
After attending Oakland Technical High School, Mary was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UC Berkeley. She continued on to earn a masters degree in microbiology. Mary also worked in a laboratory for a number of scientists who later became faculty at UC Davis. While a student at Berkeley, she met her future husband, Frank Lee. They were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley on Aug. 26, 1955. They spent one year in Europe while he served in the U.S. Army before returning to the Bay Area where he began his career as a pharmacist and they started a family. In 1963 the family moved to Davis to open Lees Drugs. For 20 years, Mary helped her husband operate the business, buying merchandise and overseeing the financial accounting. After becoming a certified public accountant in 1983, Mary went to work for the California State Auditor Generals Office. She later worked for the state Controllers Office and the California Housing Finance Agency until her retirement in 1996. She was a member of the University Covenant Church in Davis, where she participated in the choir, served as the churchs assistant treasurer, and was actively involved in the seniors ministry.
In addition to her husband of 53 years and her 10 siblings, Mary is survived by her son Kevin, his wife, Alice, and their two children, Alexander and Eleanor, of Washington, Pa.; son Doug, his wife Amy, and their two children, Sonya and Josiah of San Francisco; and son Dan of Riverside, Calif.; and numerous nephews and nieces.
We will remember her for her deep faith in God, her loving kindness, graciousness and intelligence. We miss her greatly.
A memorial service will take place at 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4 at the University Covenant Church, 315 Mace Blvd. in Davis, following a family graveside service. Arrangements were made by Wiscombes Davis Funeral Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made the to the University Covenant Church Pressing On Fund, World Vision, the Lung Cancer Alliance or the Yolo Hospice.