John Roy Lee

John Roy Lee, 69, died peacefully in his home in Siloam Springs, AR on January 24 after a lengthy hospitalization. He was born September 27, 1942 in Swain, AR to Beecher and Vergie (Thomas) Lee. John attended Lincoln public schools and, at age 18, he joined the National Guard and achieved the rank of Sergeant. He married his high school sweetheart Iva Christine Wilhite on May 26, 1961. Their first child, Cynthia, was born in 1962; their second child, Derrick, was born in 1966. John became a commercial driver in the early 1960s, leaving this career in 1976, at which time he assumed management responsibilities for Tunes Concrete. He became a Holiness Pastor in the autumn of 1971 and maintained his pastoral responsibilities in addition to his regular business employment. In 1981 John trained to be a barber and launched another career, running a barber shop in Westville, Oklahoma. In 1983 his career took yet another turn and he started working for Westville public schools, moving up into management as the Westville Schools’ maintenance supervisor, where he remained until his retirement in 2005. John liked to keep active, so he started Elite Limos & Sedans services out of Siloam Springs and later managed a fleet of drivers for the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Christine died in November 1997. John married Cynthia Pennington Kiteley of Lincoln, AR in October 1999.

He was preceded in death by his father Beecher Lee, his first wife Christine Lee; his maternal grandparents Pleas and Betty Thomas; his maternal grandparents Lon and Cora Lee; his uncles Loren Thomas, Garrett Thomas and Roy Thomas; and his aunts Tempy Jean Farmer and Bertha Mitchell; one nephew, Kenton Kindle Farmer.

He is survived by his wife Cynthia Kiteley Lee of Siloam Springs, AR; his mother, Vergie Lee, of Lincoln, AR; his sister Cheryl Moore and her husband James Moore of Lincoln, AR; his daughter Cynthia Carson and her husband Spencer Carson of Westville, OK; his son Derrick Lee of Kansas, OK; his grandson Dalton Lee Carson of Westville, OK; his nephews Kendral Farmer of Southwest City, MO, Heath Farmer of Springdale, AR, Jeremy Moore of Lincoln, AR, and Rodney Wilhite of Fayetteville; his aunts Fern David of Hermann, MO and Carol Thomas of Hermann, MO; and numerous cousins and friends.