Margie was born December 28, 1936, to Clayton Thompson and Thelma Pearl Anderson in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. She was quite an Oklahoma girl with a pioneer spirit. Her dad was a carpenter and she, as the eldest of four children, was right beside him hammering nails and sawing boards as he built house after house in the community. Her first paying job was a waitress at an Oklahoma truck stop when she was 13. In 1952, she married Floyd, her guitar man, who swept her off her feet with his country/gospel singing and guitar playing. They left their hometown in Sallisaw and went north to get jobs in the bustling manufacturing hub of Rockford. There they raised their four girls—Sharon, Marilyn, Judy and Connie. She and Floyd made sure their girls were in church every Sunday morning to hear the Good News about Jesus. She was a fervent prayer warrior calling by name everyone in her family everyday in prayer as well as others outside her family asking for God’s favor in their lives. When trouble came, she’d hold out her hands to you and say, “Let’s pray!” She truly believed that prayer changes things. After 58 years in the workforce, she retired from Gunite Foundry in Rockford in 2007. Margie was married 60 full years to Floyd until his passing in 2013.
She leaves four generations to celebrate her memory. Daughters: Rev. Sharon (Rev. Ross Jr.) Miley, Marilyn Diventi, Rev. Connie (Rev. Brian) Palmer; Grandchildren: Dawn (Nathan) Withers, Amber (Josh) Earleywine, Moriah and Lindsay Palmer; Great Grandchildren: Cassie (Andy) Amador, Isaac Withers and twins girls Emery and Londyn Earleywine; Great-Great Granddaughters: Aliyah Amador; as well as Floyd’s 13 brothers and sisters living in Texas/Kansas/OK that she had always called her own: Norma Compton Ekey, Betty Hensley, Pat Frazier, Dean Major, Margie Negri, Jaynell Manuel, Jerry Lee, Jimmy Lee, Michael Lee, Tim Lee, Dennis Lee, Denise Lee Samples and Gaylene Lee Wheetley(deceased).
She is preceded in death by her Husband, Floyd Lee; Daughter Judy Lynn Lee; Mother Thelma, Father Clayton, Sisters: Barbara Moore and Shirley Harrell; Brother Sonny (Clayton Jr), Adopted mom, Gracie Lee. The Lee family, wishes to express their since appreciation to all those who prayed for her and our family in the last mile of her journey. Special thanks to the Transitions Hospice staff, especially to RN’s Lacy and Aaron, for your compassionate, professional care or our mom and our family in the last few weeks of her life on earth.
Cremation rites have been afforded according to her wishes. A private family graveside service will be held March 27, 2020 at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Machesney Park, IL. A Memorial Service celebrating her life will take place at a future date at Riverside Assembly of God, 4242 W. Riverside Blvd., in Rockford, IL.
