Jacoby Adriana "Coby" Lee

Jacoby "Coby" Adriana Lee passed away peacefully at her home in Stroudsburg on Sunday, the fourth day of April, 2004. Her death was preceded by an almost year-long struggle with cancer which she fought courageously. With her at the time of her death were her two daughters, Christine Naomi Walp and Stacey Lee Stranieri, as well as her friend and companion of many years, Jurgen Meier. She was 64 years of age.

Coby is also survived by her mother, Aagje Hoogveld, 102, of Fresno, Calif.; her granddaughter, Adriana Walp of Swiftwater; her sister, Anjef Morris and her husband Frank Morris of Fresno, Calif.; and her sons-in-law, Kurtis Walp and Dominick Stranieri. She is also survived by numerous cousins residing in Holland.

She was the former wife of attorney Harry F. Lee of Stroudsburg.

She was preceded in death by her father, August Hoogveld, and a brother, Gene Hoogveld.

Coby was born in 1940 in Cheribom, Java, Indonesia, where her father was employed by the British American Tobacco Company. She and her entire family were interned by the Japanese in a concentration camp during World War II until they were freed by American forces at the end of the war with Japan in 1945. Following the war, she returned with her family to the Hague in Holland until coming to the United States with her family in 1955. While residing in the Hague, she studied professional ballet and in her youth was an accomplished ballerina.

Upon coming to the United States in 1955, she graduated from Fresno High School in 1956 and was subsequently employed by Stanford University School of Law as an associate librarian in the International Department. She was fluent in four languages, including her native Dutch, German, English and Indonesian.

She moved to the Poconos in 1961, where she became the manager of Winona Five Falls, formerly a scenic attraction in Bushkill.

Coby was an accomplished artist and pianist as well as an avid bridge player, having spent more than 30 years playing with her numerous friends on a weekly basis.

In 1989, she co-founded the Bixler Gallery of Fine Art with her daughter Stacey in Stroudsburg and served as its co-director for 10 years. The Bixler Gallery was Stroudsburg's first professional art gallery and during her tenure, dozens of artists from both the Poconos and throughout the country were introduced to the public with one-person shows. When the operation of the Bixler Gallery was turned over to local artist Andrei Protsouk in 1998, Coby continued her intense interest in the local art world as a representative of many of the professional artists whose work had been shown at the Gallery over the years. She also served as a judge of art work in numerous shows held throughout the area.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 8, in William H. Clark Funeral Home, 1003 Main St., Stroudsburg, with the Rev. William H. Cohea Jr. officiating. Burial will follow in Stroudsburg Cemetery.

There will be a visitation from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Eastern Monroe Public Library, 1002 N. Ninth St., Stroudsburg, PA 18360, or to the American Cancer Society, R.R. 2, Box 2138, Stroudsburg, PA 18360.