David Baine “Pete” Lee Jr., 77, died October 2, 2015 at his home near Talladega, Al. He was born May 14, 1938 in Calhoun City, the son of David Baine Lee Sr. and Mildred Helen Parrette Lee.
Memorial services have not been planned.
He is survived by Cassandra Lee, Oxford, AL; his brother, James Harold (Anita) Lee, Heidelberg, and two sisters, Martha Sue Lee Feazell, Rienzi, and Kathy Faye Lee Davis, Senatobia two grandsons, many cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his son, Ronald Barry Lee Sr.
He graduated from Calhoun City High School in 1957. He joined the MS National Guard and was in a unit sent to the 1957 Central High School Little Rock, Ar. riots and again to the 1962 riots over desegregation of Ole Miss. He was a lifelong horse trainer and lover of his horses, dogs, nature and the great outdoors. He was a true gentleman, gracious, generous and caring. All in all, his life was huge, and he lived it fully.
When his mother died in 1950 he and two siblings Martha Sue and James Harold were taken in by Abner and Mary Lee family while their new baby sister Kathy Faye was taken in by Annie Lee Dunaway, Senatobia.He lived with the Lee family through 1956. During his years there he helped in all of the duties of farming, gardening and house chores. He was a member of Second Baptist Church of Calhoun City.
He and his cousins often had corncob wars around the barn and dirt-clod wars in the fields. These childhood confrontations were always lots of fun. The boys stayed out of the house as much as possible and would often be in the loft of the barn making tunnels in the hay using the bales stacked around to create the tunnels (no need for a Chucky Cheese restaurant tube). They would catch June bugs every year and tie a thread to a leg to hold the bug so it could fly around in circles, then use a pint size Mason jar to catch lightning bugs/fireflies and spend lots of exciting and pleasurable evenings lighting up the dark nights in the cotton field. They spent lots of time in the woods camping, hunting and fishing and building forts as a hide-a-way from the house. Another activity was going to Mart Mounger Theater in Calhoun City to see frequent shows with such Western stars as Hopalong Cassidy, Johnny Mack Brown, Lash LaRue, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Superman, Invisible Man, Bowery Boys, East Side Gang, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Laurel and Hardy. A special treat was Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan), Jungle Jim. Then there were Tim Holt, Darango Kid, Red Ryder and Little Beaver (Robert Blake), Kit Carson, The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore), Tom Mix, William (Bill) Hart, Rex Allen, Monte Hale, Jimmy Wakely, The Cisco Kid, Sunset Carson, Dub “Cannonball” Taylor, Eddie Dean, George “Gabby” Hayes, Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers, Fuzzy Q. Knight, Smiley “Frog” Burnette, Tex Ritter. Bill Elliott, Harry Carey, Ed “Hoot” Gibson, Ken Maynard, Buster Crabbe, Iron Eyes Cody, Pat Buttram and Guy Madison.