John “Roger” Lee, a retired Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation supervisor for Baltimore County, died of congestive heart failure Jan. 28 at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The Havre de Grace resident was 78.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he was the son of William P. Lee, a Container Corp. of America comptroller, and Suzanne Lee, a preschool teacher. Raised in Chicago, he was a student of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, when he met his future wife, Kathleen Liedtke.
“Roger and his roommates were holding a big party. I was in a sorority and my sisters were all going. It turned out the party house living room was crowded. But I was tall and Roger was tall and he looked at me and that was it,” his wife said.
They married Sept. 27, 1968.
They both earned their degrees and Mr. Lee went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Missouri. He was drafted into the Army and assigned to the old Fort Holabird in Southeast Baltimore.
The couple found Maryland to their liking. Mr. Lee earned a master’s degree at the Johns Hopkins University and went to the University of Maryland to work on a doctorate.
Rob Wood, a friend for 45 years, said: “Roger was a man for all seasons. He loved art and was studying to be an art historian. He was an all-round threat. He had a good mind and could have been a college professor. He had a good heart and loved animals and nature. And he was a great builder too.”
Mr. Lee joined the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation in Baltimore County, where he worked for 35 years and retired as supervisor of the Baltimore County office.
“Roger was warm and charming,” said a neighbor, Kevin Purcell. “He was usually quiet but spoke up when something needed to be said.”
He and his wife built a home on 10 acres in Freeland in northern Baltimore County. Mr. Lee built a barn, sheds and animal pens. He was an enthusiastic gardener and raised chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys and Guinea fowl.
“He was very proud of his vast John Deere tractor,” his wife said.
When Mr. Lee found that a 19-acre Cecil County wooded property was slated to have its old-growth trees cut down, he acquired it, made trails and cleared its underbrush.
Mr. Lee was also a Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River recreational boater.
He and his wife later bought a Queen Anne Victorian home in the Havre de Grace historic district. He restored the house, which once held four apartments, and made it a single-family home.
Mr. Lee was a founding board member of the Historic Havre de Grace Foundation, the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission, the Havre de Grace Green Team and the Joseph L Davis American Legion Post 47.
Survivors include his wife, Kathlen Liedtke, a Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation worker; a daughter, Stephanie Anne Lee, of Havre de Grace; two brothers, Gary Lee, of Fort Collins, Colorado; and Anthony “Tony” Lee, of Ramsey, Minnesota; a sister, Sidonie Lee, of Longmont, Colorado; and nieces and nephews.
Services were held Feb. 2.