Lee Mack Rea, age 95, died from esophageal cancer at home Thursday, May 18, 2023 surrounded by family. He entered this world on January 13, 1928 on the same piece of property where he departed. He was the long-awaited son of Lester McCleese Rea and Bessie Ingram Rea and the adored little brother of his sister, Mary Elizabeth Rea, who was 12 years his senior.
Lee was born into a large loving extended farming family residing in southeast Charlotte with roots dating back to the colonial days. He felt a great sense of connection to others and the land.
Lee was a child who lived through the Great Depression. His father raised cotton and sold buttermilk at 7 cents a quart and home-churned butter at 35 cents a pound to the city folk in downtown Charlotte. He always said that although his parents had little cash money he never felt poor because the farm provided for most of their needs. His childhood home had no running water, telephone, or electricity until he was a young adult. He bathed in McAlpine Creek in warm weather or took a sponge bath in a wash basin when it was cold.
Lee attended Sardis – Carmel Primary School and Providence Primary School. He was one of sixteen graduates of the class of 1945 of Pineville High School. He attended one semester at Mars Hill College, and then in January 1946 enlisted in the Navy, serving on the USS Colonial until discharge in December 1947. He attended Charlotte College for one year, which would be later known as UNCC, and enrolled at Clemson University on the GI bill, graduating with a degree in agricultural education in 1951. He taught vocational agriculture for one year at Woodbury High School in Woodbury, Georgia where he met his future wife, Dorothy Sue Bush. Sue was working in Atlanta working in the box office of the Fox Theatre and would come home to Woodbury on weekends. They married on June 6, 1953.
After a brief honeymoon, Lee and Sue returned to Charlotte, and he began working for the City of Charlotte Engineering Department. He started in the draft room drawing plans for road improvements. Lee was selected City of Charlotte Employee of the Year in 1969. His favorite position with the city during his 31-year career required handling the complaints between citizens and the City of Charlotte regarding street and drainage problems. He enjoyed problem solving and meeting the public on site. He often said that many of the world’s problems could be solved if we just allowed the other side to speak and we really tried to listen.
Together Lee and Sue raised three children, Susan, Janice, and Glenn. He rarely missed a chorus concert, ballgame, or awards banquet. As his parents aged, Lee gradually took over the operation of the family farm, raising beef cattle until the farm was bisected by the extension of Colony Road around 2000. Lee was a dutiful husband, taking care of his wife Sue until her death in 1992 from complications of Type I diabetes.
Lee used his talents in service to his community. Being a man of great faith, he was a lifelong member of Providence Presbyterian Church and served as Elder, Deacon, Clerk of Session, and Sunday school teacher. He was a founding member of Windyrush Country Club and served on its governing board. He served on the board of Mecklenburg County Farm Bureau. He, along with his friend Ed Niven, helped establish the baseball program behind Olde Providence Elementary School, now known as South Charlotte Recreation Association, grooming the fields with a homemade drag and having his dog Fred help out at second base.
In his later years, genealogic research became Lee’s passion. He chronicled, with the help of two other family members, Virginia Bjorlin and Betsy Blankenship, the Scotch-Irish, Presbyterian Church and colonial roots of their extended family. This culminated in publishing of The Rea Families of Mecklenburg County North Carolina book in 2013, now available through Amazon.
Lee mowed his own grass on his riding lawn mower, did his own laundry, and attended his water aerobics class the week of his diagnosis on May 6, 2023. He lived an amazing full life!
Burial for Lee will be held in the Providence Presbyterian Church cemetery on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 1:30 pm for immediate family, to be followed by a celebration of life service at 2 pm in the church sanctuary. There will be visitation with reception in the church fellowship hall following the service.
Lee is predeceased by his wife Sue, and great-granddaughter, Samantha Rea Brown. He is survived by his daughter, Susan Elizabeth Rea of Magalia, California, Janice Lee Rea (David Gehle) of the home, and Glenn McCleese Rea (Dianna) of Gray, Tennessee; 8 grandchildren, Meghan Johnson (Mike), David Rowland (Natalie), Elizabeth Haselsteiner (Adam), Dillon Rea, Daniel Gehle (Stephanie), Anna Bruce (Danny), Hope Gehle, and Wren Gehle; and 6 great-grandchildren, Alex, Emilie, Olivia, Daxton, Mathes, and Arden.
The family would like to express their deep appreciation for the loving care that Dorothy Dunlap and Daniel Bartlett provided to Lee during periods of declining health.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in his memory to one of 3 charities: Brace YMCA Aquatics Program, 3127 Weddington Road, Matthews, NC 28105; Providence Presbyterian Church, memo-Endowment Fund, 10140 Providence Church Lane, Charlotte, NC 28277; or the Nature Conservancy.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McEwenPinevilleChapel.com for the Rea family.
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