Effie Hopper Lee died on April 26, 2019. Mrs. Lee was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 6, 1937, to Merle Charles and Veronica Rogers Hopper. Visitation will be Saturday, April 27, from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Peck Funeral Home, Hartselle. Funeral services will be Sunday, April 28 at 2:30 Lebanon Baptist Church, Falkville, with The Rev. A. Ray Lee, Rev. Clinton R. Lee, Rev. Dr. Randall D. Ashley, and Chaplain Rich Thompson officiating and Peck Funeral Home directing. The body will lie in state at the church for one hour prior to the funeral.
Following graduation from Florida Southern College and Escuela de Idiomas in Costa Rica, Mrs. Lee served as a missionary in Cuba from 1959 to 1960 with the United Methodist Foreign Mission Board. Upon return to the United States, she married her husband of 58 years, A. Ray Lee. Mrs. Lee taught English and Spanish in the Decatur City School System. Mrs. Lee traveled extensively and for many years took groups of Decatur High students on trips to Europe and Central and South America. After retiring from Decatur High School, she taught Spanish at Decatur Heritage Christian Academy. Upon her retirement from Decatur Heritage she volunteered extensively in the local Hispanic Community providing language and translation services to many civic and private organizations.
She had a heart for ministry whether she was serving on the foreign mission field or as a pastor’s wife. Rev. and Mrs. Lee made several mission trips to Barcelona, Spain, with teams that were instrumental in the building of La Iglesia de Cru Alta outside of Barcelona.
Mrs. Lee was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters, Carita Swanson Vonk and Merlene Charla Hopper, and a grandson, Aaron Blaine Lee. She is survived by her husband, one son, Rev. Clinton R. (Deidra) Lee of Hartselle, and two daughters, Laura (Richard) Myer of Gainesville, Georgia, and Dr. Jennifer (Scott) Morris of Florence, one sister, Elaine V. Hopper of Florence, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be William Beckman, Henry Beckman, Joshua Lee, Jeff Lee, Phillip Lee, Matt Nix, and Seth Morris.
The family wishes to express its heartfelt thanks to the staff and volunteers of Hospice of the Valley for their loving care and support of Mrs. Lee in the last months of her life.
Peck Funeral Home
