Corinne "Terry" Lee

Corinne (“Terry”) Viola Lee, 87, of Olympia passed away after a brief illness on June 8, 2016. She was born in the farming community of Revere, North Dakota, on October 2, 1928 and was the daughter of the late Ole T. and Ida (Lyste) Sordahl. Ida ran the general store and post office while O.T. managed the grain elevator and Terry remembered fondly her time helping and playing in the store and elevator. Terry graduated from Cooperstown High School and she attended Art Institutes in Minneapolis and Chicago and then lived in Los Angeles for a year before returning to Minnesota for a visit with her parents in the fall of 1947. O.T. and Ida then owned a small ice cream parlor in Mahnomen, where she met, fell in love, and soon married her husband of 67 years, George H. Lee, on August 2, 1948. When George was called back into the U.S. Army and sent overseas during the Korean War, she resided in Colorado Springs and was employed at the local emporium and then moved to San Diego where her sister was living. After George’s discharge, the Lee’s moved to Washington State in the early 1950s and Terry worked at Doctor’s Hospital in Seattle before starting a family. Terry and George raised two daughters, and her life centered on her family. The Lee’s resided in Bellevue, Longview, and Olympia where Terry was active in bridge, golf, politics, and volunteering. Terry loved traveling with her family, and they took trips annually to Arizona, Florida, Mexico, occasionally to Europe, and she enjoyed a solo trip to China. She travelled to Arizona as recently as March and those annual trips resulted in a cadre of friends from across the U.S and Canada who met each year to share good times and great food. She was active in the Republican Party in Olympia, having served as President of the Women’s Republican Club and served on the election board for decades. A source of great joy and endurance was her service as a volunteer at Capital Medical Center in Olympia for twenty-two years. Terry loved cooking and entertaining; loved reading and trying new recipes, and hosting dinners with family and friends. She was a woman of love and generosity and was immediately embraced by those who knew her. The last years Terry helped care for her husband as she remained fiercely independent with the desire to live in their home of 37 years.

In addition to her husband, Terry is survived by daughters Tammy McGrew and her husband Kelly of Land O Lakes, Florida, Cindy Funaro and her husband Steve of Redmond, Washington, and many nephews and nieces who often referred to her as their “second mom.” She was preceded in death by her brother Ronald Sordahl, sister Thelma (Jackie) Berg, and grandson Duncan McGrew. A memorial service will be held at Sunset Hills Memorial Park at 11:00 a.m. on June 18, 2016. Terry donated her body to the University of Washington School of Medicine and burial will take place at a later date. To further much needed research, a donation may be made in her name to the University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center http://depts.washington.edu/adrcweb/. Please visit www.dignitymemorial.com/sunset-hills-funeral-home/ to leave an online condolence and link for donations.