Hazel Ross Lee

Hazel Ross Lee
NORWOOD -- Mrs. Hazel Jane Ross Lee died peacefully in her home overlooking Lake Tillery, as she had always prayed she would, on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, just days after celebrating her 98th birthday. She left this earth to the sounds of seagulls and hymns.
A Service of Remembrance and Celebration of her life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 14, 2012, at Norwood First United Methodist Church, 208 Pee Dee Ave, 28128. The service will be followed by a visitation and refreshments with her family in the church fellowship hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. A private burial will be held at a later date at Wightman United Methodist Church in Anson County, where she'll rest among many other Lees and beside her beloved husband of 46 years, Jack Russell Lee, who predeceased her on December 19, 1981. The family also will receive friends and family throughout the afternoon at her daughter Jane's home, 11015 Willow Oak Road on Lake Tillery.
Mrs. Lee was born on Dec. 30, 1913 in Anson County, one of 15 children of the late Ora Adline Caudle Ross and Charlie Preston Ross. She also was predeceased by her stepfather, Fulton James.
She is survived by her two daughters Sandra Lee Stone (Bill) of Norwood and Jane Lee Watson (Stephen) of Charlotte and Norwood; grandchildren Kelly Lee Hitchner Wilson of Atlanta, GA, and Grant Hitchner (Jennifer) of Mooresville; step- grandchildren Eve Stone Hall of Kentucky, Susan Stone Drake (Jerry) of Huntersville, Monica Krege of Greensboro and Stephen Cameron Watson of Charlotte; great-grandchildren, Jackson and Greyson Hitchner of Mooresville; and step great-grandchildren Cameron and Amelia Hall of Kentucky, Sarah and Will Drake of Huntersville; and Meredith and Jordan Krege of Greensboro.
She is also survived by four siblings and their spouses: one sister, Sara Frances Ross Thomas (Joe Frank); and three brothers, Herbert Hoover Ross (Sarah Ellen); Ervin Coolege Ross (Nancy), and Fred Wilson Ross (Beth); her brother-in-law Jim Hinson of Charlotte and her sister-in-law Jackie Ross of Floral City, FL; and many Ross and Lee nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Lee outlived five of her younger sisters and five brothers: Mary Louise Ross Caudle, Harriet Virginia Ross Younts, Minnie Malene Ross Beacham, Margaret Catherine Ross McNair and Doris Jean Ross Hinson; and five brothers, Charles Houston Ross, John Keith Ross, Graham Snider Ross, Wendell Eaves Ross and Joe Traywick Ross.
Mom-Mom, as she was known to her family later in life, also had numerous grand-dogs and grand-kitties.
She graduated from Burnsville High School in 1931. She married on August 10, 1935, in the Methodist Parsonage in Polkton. She had dreams of being a nurse, but the Lord had different careers in mind for Mrs. Lee: The wife of a farmer in Anson (and later Stanly) County, she helped run a sawmill and a community store. Mrs. Lee became a businesswoman, building a chicken operation from scratch, raising chickens and selling eggs. She later actively supported her husband's real estate development of the Piney Point area of Lake Tillery in the 1960s and 1970s, and carried on the business after his death. It was a joint venture with Mr. and Mrs. Lee's land, and Turner family land that was developed into what today is Piney Point Golf Club.
Throughout her life she was involved with her church: Wightman United Methodist Church in Anson County and an active member for more than 60 years at Norwood First United Methodist Church. She was an active member of the Fork Extension Homemakers Club, receiving a Certificate of Perfect Attendance for 51 years. (She said she would have had more years of perfect attendance but she didn't make the meeting on the day her second daughter Jane was born!)
Mrs. Lee was a strong, strong woman whose life a beloved neighbor likened to that of a pioneer woman. Mrs. Lee endured the hardships of the Great Depression and the hard work necessary as a farm wife, at the same time she was raising a family. She picked cotton; grew organic vegetables and recycled before it was trendy; canned, preserved and cooked their food; made quilts from chicken feed sacks and sewed much of her families' clothing; and refinished furniture.
She lived her life to the fullest and in good health for almost an entire century. Her daughters have lost count of how many of her doctors and preachers she has survived. And she did it all with great faith, strength, tenacity, resourcefulness and energy. On her last Christmas Eve, she walked two laps around Blackberry Circle with her family and great-granddogs!
Special appreciation goes out to those who made it possible for Mrs. Lee to spend her final years, days and hours in her own home: Judy Thompson of Norwood, Stanly County Senior Center, and Dr. Rufus Lefler of Albemarle.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to The Betty Watson Scholarship Fund, Cooperative Extension Service, Extension and Community Association, 26032-E Newt Rd., Albemarle, NC 28001.
Edwards Funeral Home is serving the family of Hazel Lee. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.edwardsfuneralhomes.com.