Dr. William Harrell Lee

Dr. William Harrell Lee, 86, died March 24, 2016 at Lila Doyle Nursing Facility. Dr. Lee was born in Frisco City, Alabama, on August 26, 1929, to James Thomas Lee and Mabel Harrell Lee. He attended a twelve room school there, spending one year at Marion Military School. After graduation from Frisco City High School, he left for Emory University, where he graduated in 1950 and later received his M.D. in 1954. He completed a surgical internship at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, a general practice residency at Ireland Army Hospital in Fort Knox, Kentucky, and a pediatric residency at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Lee was a Board Certified Fellow of the American Board of Pediatrics. After a year in practice at Carrollton, Georgia, Dr. Lee established his practice in Seneca in 1962, with privileges at Oconee Memorial Hospital. He was the first pediatrician in the Oconee, Pickens, and Anderson County area. Oconee Hospital, at that time, was located at the current Lila Doyle builiding, so Dr. Lee began his Oconee practice in the building where he spent the last years of his life. Over the many years of medical career he took care of many thousands of children, and he loved every one of them. When he retired, his wish was to be thirty years old and do it all over again. He took special pleasure in being the doctor for the children at the Tamassee DAR School. Dr. Lee remained in Seneca for 44 years, until his retirement in 2006. Dr. Lee grew up close to the Gulf of Mexico, and enjoyed the water all of his life. Boating, fishing, and swimming were idyllic times for him. He was a fine gardener and his flower beds were beautiful. He loved his family and enjoyed backyard picnics when the whole crowd could get together. We all will remember with happiness, mental pictures of children jumping off the dock, teens jet-skiing, adults eating watermelon, and laughing about family memories. He is survived by his wife, Martha Sanderson Lee; four children, Ginger Mullinax, William Lee, Jr. (Janna), Amy Bohnslav (Jeffery), and Holly Sawyer (Robert); ten grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; sister, Margaret Pohl (Paul); and brother, John Thomas Lee (Louise). A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM, Thursday, March 31, 2016, at University Lutheran Church, 111 Sloan Street, Clemson, SC. Visitation will be held at Davenport Funeral Home in West Union, from 6:00-8:00 PM, on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Memorials may be made to Tamassee DAR School, PO Box 8, Tamassee, SC 29678, or University Lutheran Church, 111 Sloan Street, Clemson, SC 29631.

Dr. William Harrell Lee

August 26, 1929 - March 24, 2016