Ileen Lee

Ileen F. Lee
1921 — 2014
Ileen F. Lee, 93 of Ewing, passed away Thursday, July 24, 2014 at her home in Ewing.
Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 28, 2014 at the Ewing Full Gospel Church in Ewing, with Pastor Wayne Smith officiating.
Interment followed at the Clearwater Cemetery in Clearwater.
Huffman-Levander Funeral Home of Elgin is in charge of arrangements.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.huffmanlevander.com.
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Ileen Florence Cary, daughter of Elmer and Jessie (Hemenway) Cary, was born June 15, 1921 near Clearwater, NE. She attended rural School District #7 with her 11 siblings; the same school her mother had attended as a child. She took Normal Training classes to prepare her for teaching school, and graduated from Clearwater High School in 1940.
Ileen was married to Philip Lee on June 9, 1941 at O’Neill, NE. The couple honeymooned at Boise, ID, where they spent a happy ‘working honeymoon’. Ileen worked for neighborhood women ironing, cleaning, canning and whatever it took to maintain a home. She canned the tree ripened fruit, a task she had learned as a young girl.
After returning to Nebraska in October 1941, the couple lived and worked in the Ewing area, until Phil was drafted and they moved to Little Rock, AR during his training. After six weeks, Ileen returned to Ewing, NE and worked in several homes as a hired girl while her husband served overseas in World War II. In 1946, Ileen was diagnosed with an incurable heart valve disorder and Phil returned home to her after receiving his discharge. In 1947, following their attendance to Evangelistic Services in Clearwater and accepting the Lord, the pain of her ailment was gone and she was healed.
The couple became parents to a baby boy David in 1948. He was diagnosed with nephritis at age 3 ½ and passed away a year later. Following this difficult time, Ileen renewed her teaching certificate and resumed teaching for the next 26 years before retiring.
The couple purchased a farm near Page, NE in 1962 where they lived and farmed the next 30 years before selling the farm and moving to Ewing, NE in 1992.
Ileen enjoyed many things, including joining her husband in taking lessons to fly airplanes and spending their 60th wedding anniversary on a Hot Air Balloon ride.
She was a committed Christian throughout the years; always ready to lend a helping hand to anyone. Our loss is Heaven’s gain!
Ilene was preceded in death by her parents, son David, and 11 siblings: Edna, Wallace, Alice, Leslie, Martha, Nettie, Esther, Dorothy, Emery, Giles and Ethel.
She leaves to mourn her passing: her husband of nearly 73 years, Philip Lee of Ewing, NE; many nieces and nephews, and a host of friends.