Opal Lee Bassham

Lee Betts Bassham was born May 16, 1922 in Nampa, Idaho to Archie Landon and Minnie Grace Betts. At age 8, she and her three sisters were orphaned when their parents died in a boating accident. At this time Lee and her younger sister Betty moved to live with their Uncle Gilbert Betts and his wife Dorothea in Washington, DC. They later returned to Idaho and grew up in the homes of other aunts and uncles. Lee joined the Coast Guard in 19, serving as a weather woman. She met John Bassham who was also in the Coast Guard, and they married September 24, 1945 in Port Angeles, WA. After leaving the Coast Guard, they moved to Lawrenceburg, TN where John's family lived. Their first child, Robert John Bassham, was born in September 1947, and their second child, Joellen Bassham Foster, was born in May 1953. Lee always said her two children were her greatest accomplishment. She loved children and taught school many years in Lawrence County, first at Center Elementary School and then finished her career at Ethridge Elementary School where she taught first grade. She taught on a teaching certificate earned through classes at Kansas Normal School and McPherson College and attended college classes at night, finally earning her Bachelor's degree at the age of 60 from Trevecca Nazarene College. Lee moved to Collierville, TN after the death of her husband to be closer to her daughter and her family. She was a member of the Collierville Presbyterian Church. Lee was preceded in death by an infant sister Virginia Betts, her mother and father, her husband John Bassham, her sister Jean Betts Engelhardt and husband Larry Engelhardt , her sister Betty Betts Barlow and husband Emil Barlow, her sister-in-law Dorothy Pollock and husband James Pollock, sister-in-law Betty Perry and husband Millard Perry, and brother-in-law, Joseph Bassham. She is survived by her sister Frances Mead, son Bob Bassham (Kathy), daughter Joellen Bassham Foster (Rich), grandsons Robby Bassham (Kelli) and Matt Bassham (Renee), Erin Foster Donovan (Michael), Katie Foster Bailey (Tom) and Meg Foster and fiance' Mike Skirius, great-grandchildren Hannah and Zach Bassham, Tobin Bailey, Trey Bassham, and Nora Ellen Donovan (due April 2014), many nieces and nephews. She will have a graveside service and military burial at Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Lawrenceburg, TN, Thursday December 12 at 11:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you send a donation to the charity of your choice.