Elizabeth L. Lee's Obituary
Born on February 25 1950, Soared to Heaven on May 12 2017.Liz is dearly loved by her husband, family and friends. She had a musical career playing the piano and organ that began from a very young age. Liz studied music privately, piano and organ with Virginia Hilke and piano with both Sherman Storr and Jack Wheaton. She majored in music at San Diego Mesa College and the College of the Redwoods. She performed solo work and ac-companied choral groups, instrumentalists and soloists publicly from 1960 until she retired. Ear-lier in her career, Liz was always chosen as accompanist for the Combined Choirs Concerts at the state of California Choral Festivals year to year. Liz came out of retirement for a period of time to accompany the San Diego Children’s Choir.Liz loved playing the piano and organ. Her repertoire was extensive and included every-thing from classical music to ragtime. Those who knew her phenomenal musical talents best stated she could play “everything from Bach to Rock! . . . I don’t think we ever heard her play a wrong note!” Liz was a professional church organist for over 30 years. When playing during services, Liz especially enjoyed bombastic arrangements that ended with all of the pipe organ stops pulled, fill-ing the church with glorious music.Besides her devotion to music, Liz loved life equally as much. She lived her life with style and grace, transforming every place she lived into a beautiful and loving home. Holiday’s were special to Liz, and she always decorated the home on those holiday dates. Liz loved to host an occa-sional dinner party, especially on holiday’s. Liz loved her cats. Her Persian cats Betsy and Puddy, inherited from family members who lived in Arizona, were one of her joys. Wherever we went, the cats came in tow. They traveled with us from San Diego to Texas where we lived for four years, and then back with us when we returned to San Diego.During our return to California, Liz alone in one rental truck with two cats in the front cab, the brakes and power steering gave out while heading down the long, steep grade into Sierra Blanca outside of El Paso. Somehow she found the strength to steer the runaway truck and bring it to a stop at the gas station at the bottom of the hill. Liz took all of this in stride, and the next morning, as the truck was repaired, she and her husband enjoyed a breakfast of Huevos Rancheros and went on their way.Returning home from Texas gave Liz the chance to be with her mother, before she passed. Liz was devoted to her mother, yet never had issues with the life changes that compelled her and husband to eventually leave Texas and come back to Southern California, where they were born. Back in California, she and her husband acquired another Persian cat, Petey, who they loved for 16 years.A year ago Liz purchased a Mini Cooper. She enjoyed driving her Mini S hard top, and drove it with the same precision and bravado as she showed with the keyboards. Liz’s love of cars began with her now deceased father, who was a car enthusiast and always drove fast cars. Liz had owned her share of performance cars, from a Chevy Camaro to a Datsun 240Z, and the Mini re-minded her of those past vehicles. She would often say after driving her Mini, “I still got it.” Like her passion for music, Liz carried her youthful zeal and panache throughout her life to the very end, living through its daily demands with grace, fortitude, and loyal perseverance to her values and love of God.Liz is survived by her husband of 28 years, Neil R. Simpson, and her sister Carol White with her husband Kenneth R. White and her son Stephen G Porcher with wife Leah Soriano Porcher. She is survived also by the wife of her deceased brother John Nick Lee III, sister-in-law Alicia So-tomayor Lee, and her sons John N Lee IV, Brian Lee, and Richard A. Lee, with his wife Oliva and their sons Richard A Lee Jr and Bryan Lee. Liz’s deceased mother and father are Lucille B Lee and John N Lee.As you may, please feel free to donate to the American Stroke Association as a tribute to Liz. You can find their website on the internet at http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/.We will all miss our beloved Liz, and will carry her in our hearts for all of our days.To see her is to love her, And love but her forever; For Nature made her what she is, And never made anither! — Robert Burns (1759-1796)
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