Fifth Generation

4. Charles Henry Lee Sr. was born in 1920 in Atlanta, Fulton, GA and died on the 12th of June 2005. He is the son of Julian McLin Keith and Ruth Hester Fowler and the stepson of Irby Overton Lee. On March 31, 1941 he married Frances Tucker. He is buried at the National Cemetery in Chattanooga, TN because he was a veteran on WWII and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army.

He was born Charles Henry Keith. He was named after his grandfathers, Charles Keith and William Henry Fowler. He was a serious child and was the only child. He loved military stuff. His neighbors fought in WWI along with an uncle. His mother, Ruth Fowler spoiled him and dressed him in fancy clothes. His father Julian Keith was a handsome charming man according to the few pictures I have seen. They divorced when Charles Henry KEith was a child. Ruth married Irby Lee. During the depression they moved around a lot. They lived in Texas for a while and then to Chatttanooga, TN where his step father owned a furniture store. He never saw his biological father again. Irby Lee adopted Charles Keith and his name was changed to Charles Henry Lee. He grew up Presbetyrian in Chattanooga and went to High School there. He was good with math and science and loved foreign language and boxing. He went to University at the University of Tennessee Knoxville Campus and studied Engineering. He was handsome, but was kind of a nerd and dressed in clothes his mother picked out for him. He met his wife, Frances Tucker, a sorority girl. SHe dated him on a dare but discovered she loved him. They found out they shared a passion in tennis. They eloped to be married after a two month courtship. WWII had begun and my grandfather volunteered to be a pilot, his long dream. He became a pilot and in 1944 flew on a mission to Romania, on the way back he was shot down in Italy and became missing in action for a few months until early 1945. We still have the letters. He came home soon after he was found and moved to Ripley, TN where his wife’s fmaily lived and his father-in-law was mayor. In Ripley, he had his 4 children. He went active duty again and was stationed at Fort Knox, KY. His wife hated it and his son learned how to say curse words there. He then was an architect in Jackson, TN and then moved to Memphis where he worked at the Housing and Urban development. After his childre grew up, he took a job with HUD in Florida where he then retired. Then his parents in Chattanooga became ill and his father Irby Lee died. They moved to Chattanooga to take care of the elderly Ruth Lee. They would still take trips to Florida and Las Vegas with friends and enjoyed life until they became too old. My grandfather has several strokes and bowl problems and lived in pain for many years. He finally passed away when he was 85 years old.

5. Frances Tucker was born in 1920 and is still alive. She was born in Ripley, Lauderdale, TN and is the daughter of Joseph Magruder Tucker and Ida Pope Majors. She had five older brothers and she was the youngest.

Her mother died when she was 5. She loved growing up in Ripley. She was best friends with Betty Berg whose parents owned Berf and Schaeffer. Frances’ father also owned a couple of businesses in Ripley. He worked hard in his community and later became mayor of the town. My grandmother was pretty as a princess, but growing up with all boys, she loved tennis and basketball. She was sent to an all girl’s school along with her good friend Betty. Then she went to college at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and was a sorority girl. She became scandalous when she began dating the nerdy non frat boy Charles Lee. She and her friends would make fun of Charles as he sat alone in the cafeteria wearing the ugliest sweaters. Her friends dared her to ask him out on a date. They did and she fell in love. Under that ugly sweater was a tall, handsome, intelligent man. In 1942, they eloped to be married. Her husband soon joined the army to become a pilot. She followed him whereever he went to train and even went to Idaho. After he had to leave to go to EUrope, my grandmother drove all the way from Idaho to Tennessee by herself. She stopped in Utah and said she saw the Salt Lake Temple. Her husband was shot down in Europe and was missing in action. This was a scary time for her. She spent the time playing Bridge to get her mind off of her troubles. She was happy when he was found and told him in a letter she would try to lose all of the weight she gained eating while she was worried about him. They lived in Ripley, where her husband worked for her father. She had four children there. She hired a baby nurse even though at first she thought it was a bad idea to do so. She always played bridge and would join social clubs. She loved that sort of thing. She hated it when her husband went to Fort KNox and thought Kentucky was “too Yankee”. She lieved in JAckson where she played bridge and then to Memphis where she did a lot of community type work and was active in church. She always believed in having fun and would regularly play tennis and go to the beaches in Florida to swim. Whereever she lived she would do work in her communities and join social clubs. She loved FLorida and had many friends, but she moved to Chattanooga to care for her mother-in-law. She still kept in touch with Betty Berg who now was married to a man named Herbert. (I can’t remember his last name) THey went to LAs Vegas together. Finally, she got too old. Her husband died in 2005. She is one of the last of her generation alive. She is now living near Knoxville.