Leonard S. Lee

Leonard Sylvester Lee was born on April 29,1924 in Brandon Hill, Jamaica, West Indies. He

was the son of Gladys Jackson Scott and James Lee. He was a very active, curious and determined

young man. Leonard began his education in Jamaica that he would eventually complete in

Cleveland, OH. As a youth, his step-father, Harold Scott, was a baker of various items including

wedding cakes. His mother, Gladys Scott, was a seamstress whose craft included making wedding

dresses. Leonard’s teenage life was spent traveling the area collecting money from his parents’

many customers, a job he enjoyed very much.

As a young man he moved to Kingston, Jamaica. There he owned his own business,

Surprise Groceries, for a number of years. He then sold the business and ventured to America

where he traveled to many states and held many jobs. He eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio

where he worked at Addressograph Multigraph managing vending machines for several years.

He eventually purchased a business that he named Modern Cleaning and Tailoring located at

820 E.125th Street in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland, OH. He served the community

there for twenty-six years.

To keep busy during retirement he participated in Toastmasters, an organization that teaches

the art of public speaking, at the Living Truth Center in East Cleveland, OH. He spent time working

at Canterbury Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, OH as a lunch aide. Also, he delivered

meals for Meals on Wheels with the Shaker Heights, OH Division for thirteen years. He had a

love for flower gardening and growing vegetables in the backyard of his Cleveland Heights home.

His corn stalks were visible from the street. His grape vines produced for several years. There was

regularly a bounty of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables. He enjoyed sharing his harvest with

his neighbors, friends and family. He was a wizard at playing dominoes. He very seldom lost a

game. He enjoyed riding bicycles as well as going for rides in, and working on cars. He made sure

to teach each of his children how to perform at least basic repairs on their own cars. He enjoyed

helping people, whether it was giving them a ride, a word of advice or making a repair. If he didn’t

know how to fix something, he would learn. He was a master at fixing things with whatever he had

on hand. He loved being outdoors, visiting nature gardens and just sitting outside enjoying the

weather and the shade of his tree.

Leonard was the second of six children. His siblings include Esmie Antoine (Victor), of

Houston TX, and Albert Scott of London, England. Preceding him in death were his siblings Ruby

Chin of Kingston, Jamaica, Rev. Levi Scott of London, England and Daphne Arboine of Brandon

Hill, Jamaica.

Preceding him in death was his son, Raymond Lee.

Leonard leaves in mourning his loving wife, Leonie Lee, children Neville Lee, Andrea

Jenkins, Leonette Mitchell, and Lincoln Lee, grandchildren Damon Lee (Rosalinda), Neville

Lee, Rayshawn Lee (Fern), Joshua Rice, Monique Dunning-Ogletree (Kristopher), Heather Rice

and Brandon Wright, great-grandchildren Jasmine, Camille, Sebastian, Rashawn Jr., Ri’Ann,

Rayanah, Kristopher and a host of other family, relatives and friends.

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