Jesse Baxter Lee, Jr.

Jesse Baxter Lee, Jr. was born in Laurinburg NC on July 24, 1941, and died at the Morrison Manor at Scotland Regional Hospice on June 10, 2024.  His parents were Jesse Baxter Lee and Elsie Grubbs Lee.  He spent his entire life in Laurinburg. As a child he liked to take things apart and rebuild them, which led to his acquiring a degree in Nuclear Engineering at NC State in 1964. He was an only child who found his brothers at the Theta Chi Fraternity.

Baxter pursued his many and varied interests with passion and perfectionism.  Whether he was rebuilding a sports car or completing an “impossible” puzzle, it had to meet his exacting standards.  Baxter had a passion for everything golf, NC State, and classic automobiles. He spent many of his happiest days at the Scotch Meadows Golf Course. He was an avid Civil War scholar who enjoyed adventures to battlefields and historic sites.  He proudly participated in the historic funeral march of the CSS Hunley crew in 2004.   He immersed himself in genealogical research and compiled a comprehensive history of the Lewis Boyd Lee family of Union County, South Carolina.

His legacy was his love for his family - his children and grandchildren, his stepchildren and granddaughter, and his wonderful array of Lee cousins.  He was devoted to his friends.

He leaves behind to cherish his memory his wife Carol Stutts Hammond Lee, daughters Hamilton Lee Gray, (Chad Gray), Erin Lee Ferguson (Paul Kostansek), stepchildren Philip C. Hammond III (Robin Wiegerink) and Helen Elizabeth Hammond (Kevin Elliott), and his beloved grandchildren Ethan Gray, Zoe Gray, and Caroline Hammond.

Baxter bravely endured a long struggle with cancer.  His family sends its heartfelt thanks to the caring and professional staff at the Scotland Cancer Treatment Center and the God-sent care providers at Scotland Regional Hospice’s Morrison Manor.

A service to celebrate the life of Baxter will be held at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church, 600 West Church Street, Laurinburg, at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, June 18, and guests will be received afterwards.  If you wish to make a donation in Baxter’s memory, The Scotland Cancer Treatment Center at Scotland Memorial Hospital, 500 Lauchwood Drive or the Morrison Manor at Scotland Regional Hospice, 610 Lauchwood Drive, both in Laurinburg NC 28352, would be quite appropriate. Baxter would want you to know how grateful he was to receive such wonderful care right here at home.