Marie Louise Lee

Marie Louise McTighe Lee, 88, of Washington, D.C., died Wednesday, January 22, 2020 among loved ones. Marie was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on August 25, 1931 and lived there most of her life. Born during the Depression to modest circumstances, Marie was an outstanding student at the Academy of St. Aloysius High School, was the first girl to place first in a statewide Latin contest and then was the first member of her family to attend college and receive a Bachelor’s degree. After graduating from St. Elizabeth’s College, Marie was a biology teacher for many years at Lincoln High School in Jersey City where she was much loved and noted for her mentoring of students and her pioneering views on civil rights and other social issues.

In 1957 Marie married John Bernard Lee, a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps and graduate of New York University School of Law. While they built a family Marie kept pursuing her education and moving forward in her education career, attaining a Master’s degree in Education and becoming the Jersey City Supervisor of Science, managing the science programs for all public schools in the city. She also led the planning and building of the Liberty Science Center at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, which she hoped would serve as a beacon to young people interested in the sciences for years to come.

Upon retirement, Marie and John moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where, never one to be idle, Marie wrote a series of published mystery novels: The Curious Cape Cod Skull, The Fatal Cape Cod Funeral and the Mysterious Cape Cod Manuscript. As much as she loved the Cape, she loved New Jersey more and eventually returned with John to the Garden State to live near the ocean in Spring Lake Heights. After John died in 2012, Marie moved to Washington, D.C. to be closer to her family.

Marie was predeceased by her husband John and son, John B. Lee, Jr. and is survived by her daughter Jessica Lee (Deborah Fenstermaker) of Washington, D.C. Other surviving family members include her niece Dianne Babics (William), nephews Raymond (Donna) Kohl and Mark (Regina) Kohl, her grandnieces Catherine (David) Chase, Audrey (Brett) Lane and Samantha (John) Archer, grandnephew Jeffrey (Jackie) Kohl and her great grandnieces and nephews Emma, Carolyne, Eva, Harp, John, Brody, Alexander and Sadie.

Memorial arrangements are being handled by Joseph Gawler’s Sons Funeral Home in Washington, D.C. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation in Marie’s memory to her favorite charity, the Sandy Hook Foundation, attention Light House Keeper’s Quarters, 84 Mercer Rd., Fort Hancock, New Jersey, 07732.