Felix Otis Gee

LEXINGTON - Felix Otis Gee, 90, a longtime Lexington resident and civic leader, died Sunday, Aug. 1, 2004, at Fitzgerald Health Center, Arbor Acres in Winston-Salem. A native of Shelby, Felix was born Aug. 1, 1914, the son of Felix Otis and Weeta Presnell Gee. He graduated from Davidson College in 1935. After teaching at Lattimore High School in Cleveland County for two years, he came to Lexington and was an executive with Dacotah Cotton Mills, Inc., until his retirement in 1982. He was in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II. As a member of First Presbyterian Church, he served as Sunday school teacher, deacon, church treasurer and elder. During this time he assisted in the organization of Meadowview Church, was elected moderator of Presbytery three times, was three times a commissioner to the General Assembly and was a trustee of Presbyterian Home in High Point and Lees McRae College in Banner Elk. He served as president of the Lexington Kiwanis Club, the YMCA, Lexington Memorial Hospital, the United Way and the Chamber of Commerce. He also served as a member of the Lexington School Board and director of Mid-State Tile Co. He was involved in the founding of Davidson County Community College and served as trustee for 18 years, 10 as chairman. In 2004, he served as the honorary chairman of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the college. In 1960 he was presented Lexington's Distinguished Citizen Award. Survivors include his wife, Mildred McKiney Gee, of Arbor Acres in Winston-Salem; two daughters, Mildred Gee Akers of Orange Park, Fla., and M. Elizabeth Gee of Winston-Salem; and two grandsons, Michael Gordon Akers of Jacksonville, Fla., and William Gee Akers of Orlando, Fla. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. today, Aug. 4, at First Presbyterian Church in Lexington with the minister, Dr. Jim Wagner, conducting the service. Burial will follow in the Lexington City Cemetery. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 586, Lexington, NC 27293 or Davidson County Community College Foundation Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1287, Lexington, NC 27293.