Brenda Elizabeth McNabb Lee

November 8, 1943 – July 30, 2026

Lexington – Brenda Elizabeth McNabb Lee, 82, died Thursday, July 30. She passed away peacefully after more than a decade-long decline due to dementia. She now is in the loving arms of her Heavenly Father and once again holding the hand of her beloved husband of 60 years, Bill, who died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2024.

Brenda was born in Picayune, Mississippi, to Jess Brunson and Lois Opal McNabb. Her family, which later included younger sister Nancy Lynn, moved to Port Arthur, Texas, while Brenda was still quite young. Brenda would fondly share stories of going back to Mississippi as a child to visit her maternal grandmother, Lettie, who had no indoor plumbing, so an outhouse was often the highlight of her stories. Brenda attended Travis Elementary School in Port Arthur, where her favorite teacher taught her how to write in cursive -- something the artistically inclined Brenda held quite proudly, as she would later try her best to instill the talent of beautiful cursive handwriting in her own daughters. Brenda played piano and sang as a young girl, also talents she would later share with her daughters. She went on to attend Woodrow Wilson Junior High, Thomas Jefferson High School and then junior business college.

While attending T.J. High, Brenda was a drum majorette with the Red Hussars, twirling a baton with the elite all-girl drum and bugle corps. She lettered in athletics, excelling especially in softball. She was active in student government and the Herald civic organization. But what she enjoyed most in high school was meeting her future husband, Bill, when he was playing in a local baseball game. Two years her senior, Bill graduated high school in 1959 and attended a local university while Brenda finished high school. As soon as Bill graduated college, he was recruited by the federal government as a civil engineer and sent to Idaho, where he and Brenda married and began their lives together. They lived all over the United States for Bill’s job before eventually settling in the Columbia area of South Carolina in the late 1960s with their daughters, Tracy and Heather.

They raised their daughters in Cayce and were active members of the Edenwood neighborhood as well as First Baptist Church of West Columbia and then later Northside Baptist Church. Brenda continued her favorite high school sports as a young mom, shooting archery in her backyard, playing church softball and neighborhood tennis, as well as bowling in local leagues for many years. As a stay-at-home mom of two active daughters, she often was the homeroom mom, the fieldtrip mom, the carpool mom, the choir mom, the dance mom or the team mom. She often could be found sitting at the family’s dining room table with Tracy, helping her type articles on an old electric typewriter for her high school newspaper while Tracy waxed and laid out the paper’s latest edition. She could be seen leaning over Heather at the family’s piano, encouraging her to practice before her next lesson or recital. Performing for decades as an alto in school and church choirs, Brenda’s musical talent influenced Heather, who went on to travel the Southeast performing with her own college music group.

In addition to her musical talents, Brenda was quite artistic. She was a trained painter, especially talented at tole painting, and cross-stitched hundreds of patterns, often giving them as gifts to friends and family. She also was an avid reader, often reading a book a day. Being so well-read, she always was everyone’s chosen partner any time a knowledge-based boardgame was involved.

She enjoyed the outdoors, to the delight of her husband, and spent countless hours preparing and packing for family camping trips to Rocks Pond, Santee State Park and Myrtle Beach. She even occasionally joined Bill for days on the lake, watching him pre-fish for an upcoming bass fishing tournament. She loved all animals, but especially dachshunds, a breed of dog that she owned for more than 50 years.

Once her nest was empty, she went on to work with friends at the S.C. Bookstore on the University of South Carolina campus until she and Bill moved to Tallahassee, Florida, following his retirement. But, as soon as Tracy and Heather began to have children, she and Bill moved back to South Carolina, settling in Lexington. That’s when her most-loved role came into play: being Mimi to her three granddaughters, Elise, Autumn and Bridget. She was actively involved in their lives, jumping in her car at a moment’s notice to do anything from taking one to “adopt” her latest favorite baby doll, to attending multiple sports events and chorus performances, to road tripping to the latest touring Broadway show, to hosting countless sleepovers at her house.

By the late 2010s, dementia had begun to alter her life. By 2020, both Bill and Brenda had been diagnosed with cognitive conditions that eventually required them to move to Wellmore of Lexington, which is where Brenda lived at the time of her passing. The family would like to extend their utmost gratitude to the staff at Wellmore’s skilled nursing unit and to the hospice caregivers of VIA Health for the constant loving care they provided Brenda.

Brenda was a strong Christian, who most recently was a member of Lexington Baptist Church. Poetically thought of as a Proverbs 31 wife, she had a servant’s heart -- always standing by Bill’s side to help in any way she could. She was a devoted mother and grandmother who would selflessly do anything for her girls. By the time of Bill’s passing, Brenda’s dementia had become such that she was unaware of his death. The family knows that she now is once-again holding hands with her high school sweetheart in Heaven -- that they both are rejoicing with the bright minds and strong bodies that the disease of dementia had taken away. Their long goodbyes on earth are complete.

A private family graveside service will be held at Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia. Dunbar Funeral Home Devine Street Chapel is handling the arrangements.

Those left to cherish Brenda’s memory include daughters Tracy Lee McKelvey (Steve), Columbia, and Heather Lee Kennerly, Bennettsville; grandchildren Elise McKelvey, Philadelphia, Pa., Autumn Kennerly and Bridget Kennerly, Greenville; sister, Nancy Palmer (Allen) of Bertram, Texas; and many extended family members throughout Texas. She was predeceased by her husband, William (Bill); parents, J.B. and Lois McNabb; and son-in-law, John Kennerly.

Should someone choose to make a donation in Brenda’s honor, the family asks that you please consider the Alzheimer’s Association.