Virginia B. Lee

Virginia Dorothy Breytspraak Lee, 89, passed away peacefully 3/30/2013 surrounded by family. She was librarian of Northeast ISD's Camelot Elementary from its inception in 1968 until her retirement in 1990. A lifelong presbyterian, she was a member of Northwood Presbyterian Church for 54 years, where she a deacon and an elder, and was active in music programs, women’s circles, and Christian Education. She will be dearly missed by friends and family.

"Ginny" was born in Philadelphia, PA on 2/16/1924 and raised in Memphis, TN, where her father helped open and manage the first Sears department store there in 1927. After attending St. Mary's School for Girls and graduating from Central High School, she earned a BA in Sociology at Ol’ Miss, where she was a member of Mortar Board and president of both the local chapter of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and the Pan-Hellenic society.

While a college sophomore in 1942, she was urged (by her dentist!) to write a letter to a certain 'lonely soldier' (Walter Lee) whom she had never heard of nor met. She did; he answered; and thus began an exchange of increasingly personal letters. They didn't meet, or even hear one another's voice until he returned from Europe at the close of World War II. They wed on 12/22/1947, and were devoted to one another until his death in 1991. Their family treasures all those letters they carefully tucked away.

She worked in the advertising department of Sears for several years before settling down to raise her children. The family moved to San Antonio in 1959. When her youngest child entered first grade she returned to school for teaching certification, and was chosen as the first librarian for the brand new, innovative "Learning Center” (which now bears her name) at Camelot Elementary, where she taught for 22 years.

Throughout her life she was dedicated to children and education, both in her family and her community. She and Walter round danced for many years. In retirement she enjoyed knitting, playing the piano, and gardening. In her late 70s she began to learn Spanish and email. She was kind, caring, graceful, and disciplined. She loved to dance and always had a song in her heart.

She was preceded in death by her husband Walter Carrel Lee (Sr.), parents William August Breytspraak and Gladys Ziegler Breytspraak Brist Petersen, and brothers Roger W. Breytspraak MD and James Merrill Breytspraak.

She is survived by her sons: Rev. Walter Carrel Lee, Jr DMin and wife, Mary; Timothy Martin Lee; Thomas Needham (Ned) Lee, and wife Megan Kromer, PhD (all of San Antonio); and Christopher Frank Lee, PhD of Madison, WI; grandchildren Daniel John Vivian, PhD (Louisville, KY), Bradford James Vivian, PhD (Syracuse, NY), Christopher Scott Graves (Bandera), Bethany Graves Borak (San Antonio), and Deborah Anne Lee, AuD (Madison, WI); three great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at Sunset Funeral Home. The Memorial Service will be 10 am, Friday, April 5, 2013 at Northwood Presbyterian Church, 518 Pike Place, San Antonio, TX 78209. There will be a private burial at Sunset Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts to Northwood Presbyterian Church or House of Neighborly Service.