He grew up in the close-knit community where everyone looked after each other. He was the most adventurous one among his two younger brothers, egging them on to mischief and more. It was a simple country life made up of hard work, play time and a strong religious upbringing.
Weekdays were for schooling – Minter Union Elementary, then the historic E. M. Brown Training School. Evenings were for chores. Sundays were for worship at Allen Chapel AME for Sunday School and church. Summers were for working in the agricultural fields and other odd jobs in the community to earn money for school and necessities.
Lee’s dreams far surpassed the simple country life. He developed a sense of curiosity, of adventure. He raised questions and tested limits – not a good thing in the environment we grew up in. Wasn’t much in that small Minter community, but he pushed against rules and traditions.
In 1966, he was deposited on a bus to Racine to his dad and Grandma “Stell” after he was unceremoniously kicked out of school for shooting dice with a bunch of boys who should have been in Shop Class.
He was 16 years old and got the rest of his education from the School of Hard Knocks.
Racine with its repetitive, readily-available factory work didn’t do it for Lee. He wanted more. He left for nearby Chicago, trying out different jobs, checking out the big city. Then, in 1968, the Draft came calling. He was inducted into the U. S. Army, serving honorably in Vietnam.
A year and a half later, he returned home, and life unfolded, in chapters and by chance.
In time, he was raising a son, Dwayne and eventually found lasting employment driving the Racine City Bus. And, it was around this time that he had the good fortune to find the person who would become the love of his life – Alexandria “Sandi” Swenson, a feisty go-getter with an adventurous spirit larger than his. It was, as they say, a match made in heaven.
She also drove the city bus and Lee would tell this story of how their lives meshed. Sandi would arrive at the bus yard before him during the freezing Racine mornings and start up his bus. Yep. She got his attention.
He was her “Scooter” and she was his “Boukie.”
They had their ups and downs – but they ended up blending her four children and his one son together into one giant rainbow. It remained so for more than four decades, now with a healthy mix of grands and great-grands.
Following their retirement in the late ‘90s, the adventure continued. They settled in a central Florida golfing playground called The Villages and it was here that Lee came to relish his post-retirement lifestyle – the golf carts, the 2 O’Clock Club, the nonstop Happy Hours, the daily evening parties on the Square.
The couple settled comfortably together into the daily rhythms of The Villages – retirement living at its best – until the other side of reality intervened.
In 2012, Sandi went in for what should have been a simple surgical procedure. She was left wheelchair-bound in a nursing home.
In the summer of 2021, Lee got a diagnosis of advanced stages of cancer.
Then, on Thanksgiving Day, 2021, his beloved “Boukie” went into cardiac arrest and died, trying to get home to see her Scooter.
Eleven months later, on October 13, 2022, Lee peacefully slept away at home – which was his wish.
He is survived by son Edward Dwayne, stepchildren Scott (Barbara) of Grafton, WI; Chuck in San Diego, Tami and Marilee in Altamonte Spring, FL, numerous grands and great-grands.
He also is survived by his brother Jesse (Marjorie), of Pleasant Prairie, WI and sister Patricia (Owen) of Fort Lauderdale, and many loving relatives and close friends too numerous to mention.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.DignityMemorialWildwood.com for the Andrews family.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.17