Herbert Arthur Lee

Herbert Arthur Lee was born on May 6, 1933 in Waldoboro, Maine where he grew up on his father's poultry farm. He was the oldest with one brother and two sisters. He played basketball in high school where a particular pretty cheerleader, Frances Marilyn Gross, caught his eye. They dated for two years then Marilyn went to nurses training at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston and Herb went into the Air Force. Three years later Herb and Marilyn were married in the Chapel in Waco, Texas and that afternoon Herb received his wings and became an Officer and a “Gentleman”. They have been married 66 years and have been an example to their family, relatives, and friends, of what a beautiful marriage can be when centered around their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The two of them had three children, Ginny, Jim and Tom. The three of them married and have provided Mom and Dad with 23 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren to love and enjoy. All their years together they have had a dog that Dad could have on his lap while watching a game - Pepper, Mitzi, Perko, Princess, Punkin...

Herbert attended officer training school to become a pilot and for most of his twenty-three year career he was a rescue helicopter pilot, commanding two Helicopter Detachments in Charleston and Florida, and serving a year in Vietnam. During his military career he acquired his Bachelor of Arts degree from Chapman college. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1976. Within a week Marilyn and Herb purchased the Family Bible Center, a Christian bookstore in Turlock, CA, which they owned and operated for seventeen years. During those years he taught Sunday School and was an Elder at Monte Vista Chapel.

After selling the bookstore, the two of them joined MMAP (Mobile Missionary Assistance Program) and served with that organization for twenty years alongside other retirees throughout the United States. They worked on 140 projects at Christian camps, conference centers, churches and Christian schools involving construction, renovation, and remodeling.

After “retiring” again, Herb and Marilyn moved to Oro Valley where he was active in the Gideon Camp. Twelve years later they moved to Peoria, Arizona. They have enjoyed their own apartment at a retirement home where they have many friends, and where they live close to their youngest son, Tom and his wife and their three children and nine grandchildren.

The most important aspect of Herb’s story is that he was a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ. He loved Him and served Him and was an example to his family and friends. It was on one of their dates early in their relationship that Marilyn asked Herb if he had ever accepted Jesus as his Savior. They talked back and forth for a while and then he, knowing that even though he had a knowledge of Jesus from his Sunday School days, realized he had never accepted Jesus as his Savior. Marilyn challenged him to memorize John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” On that date together, Herb prayed and confessed his sinfulness and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Then later at a Good Friday service while serving in the Vietnam war, the last words of Christ on the cross from the Chaplain’s message were, “It Is Finished.” Herb said in his own words, “All I can remember is that phrase continuing to echo through my mind as I sat there, contemplating what Jesus had done for not only me, but for the whole world. He had paid the price. I have tried ever since to serve Him, not because I could pay Him back but because I want to show Him the love I have because of what He has done for me.” Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

You are welcome to come for the visitation time at Phoenix Memorial Park, 200 W. Beardsley Rd., Phoenix, Arizona 85027 from 10am-11am on Thursday, March 11, 2021. Due to Covid restrictions, at 11am we will have a private celebration of life which will be only for the immediate family.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Gideons. https://www.gideons.org/donate