- Date Of Birth: December 15, 1917
- Date Of Death: September 21, 2013
- State: Florida
Mary Nell McCray Lee was born December 15, 1917 at Alton Sawmill, Alton, Florida, to Grover and Ollie Walker McCray. The family moved to New Smyrna Beach, in 1922 where Grover had a job as an engineer for the Florida East Coast Railway.
Nell started school at the Faulkner Street School and graduated from Live Oak Street High School in 1935. She went to Florida State College for Women and got her teaching degree. That summer, she went to California to be with her dad who had a job on the Southern Pacific Railroad. She met her future husband, Vernon Lee, and remained in California where she taught in elementary school for 25 years.
When Nell retired, she came back to New Smyrna Beach. She was an avid tennis player until she was 80 years old. She loved to play bridge and loved all the players, especially the Fabulous Friday Five plus Al. She also enjoyed volunteering at the Southeast Volusia Historical Society New Smyrna Museum of History.
Nell was predeceased by her parents, two sisters, Helen Machek and Shirley Clark, and three brothers, Bruce, Dave, and Gene McCray. She is survived by two daughters, Carol (Tom) Bowa of Granite Bay, California, and Peggy (Steve) Elms of Stockton, California; one son, Don (Joan) Lee of Surprise, Arizona; six grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren. She was matriarch of a very loving family that knew her as Aunt Nell.
