John T. “Jack” Lee Jr., 81, of Windham, NH passed away peacefully on Sunday October 24th at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH, with his loving wife by his side.
Jack was born in Cambridge, MA, November 4, 1928, and was raised and educated in Swampscott, MA. Jack went on to attend and graduate from Tufts University in Medford, MA and has been a lifelong supporter of academic scholarships through the school. While at Tufts he was President of his class and still holds a football pass interception record there.
Jack served with the United States Air Force as a fighter pilot during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, retiring from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel after 29 years, 3 months and 10 days of military service. During his service, he had many accomplishments, however one of Jack’s greatest thrills during his service was to fly the P-47D (Thunderbolt) in the 1953 Detroit Air Show in a parade of WW2 fighter aircraft led by Major Chuck Yeager. In 1955 he attended the Interceptor Weapons Instructors School (The USAF All Weather Top Gun School) at Tyndall AFB, Fla. In 1959, after a brief return to civilian life, Jack reentered the military as a member of the Air Force Reserve at Grenier Field in Manchester, NH. He retired from the NHANG.
In 1958 he joined the New England Telephone as a Directory Advertising Salesman and spent 26 years in Yellow Page Advertising Sales in both management and sales positions prior to his retirement from the Bell System in 1984.
Following his retirement, Jack joined the New Hampshire Golf Association team as a rater and had served as Chairman of the NHGA Course Rating Team for the past 20 years. He was also the Course Rating Panelist for Golf Digest. He spent 10 winters with his wife Lorraine in Myrtle Beach, SC, rating courses for Golf Digest. Jack was also a member of the Manchester Country Club for over 30 years and a current member of the Hoodkroft Country Club in Derry, NH. Jack was also a member of Cederdale and Salem Athletic Club for many years. He led a full and colorful life and he will be dearly missed by all that knew him. In Jack’s own words, “It’s been a great life.”
Jack leaves his loving and devoted wife of 14 years, Lorraine (Long) Lee of Windham, NH, 3 step-children, Sheri Curry and her husband James of Groveland, MA, Kimberly Whiles of Westminster, MA and William Whiles of Wells, ME, 5 step-grandchildren, Nicole, Jim, Mackenzie, Maddy, Autumn, a sister, Jeanne Gerety of GA, a sister-in-law, Barbara Ham and her husband David of N. Reading, MA, a brother-in-law, Joseph Long and his wife Alice of Lynnfield, MA, a cousin Virginia Parolisi and her husband Eddie of Methuen, MA and several nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his former wife, Lois Lee.
Friends are invited to a funeral service on Friday, October 29th at 11 a.m. at the Goundrey and Dewhirst Funeral Home, 42 Main St., Salem, NH. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery, North Reading, MA. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 40 Buttrick Rd., Suite B, Londonderry, NH 03053. For directions or to make an online condolence, please visit www.dewhirstfuneral.com.