Obituary of Milfred L. Lee

Milfred "Jake" L. Lee, age 84, of Yankton passed away Thursday, August 01, 2013 at Wakonda Heritage Manor, Wakonda. Funeral services will be at 11:00 AM, Monday, August 5, 2013 at the Gayville Lutheran Church, Gayville with Rev. Ralph Egbert officiating. Burial will be in the Gayville Cemetery. Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home and Crematory is assisting with the arrangements. Pallbearers will be Duane Lee, Eugene Olson, Louie Smith, John Buckman, Jim Orton, and Larry Buffington. Milfred "Jake" Lee was born on January 2, 1929 to Alfred and Alice (Amundson) Lee in Utica Township. Jake went to school in Mission Hill and Gayville. He played American Legion baseball for Gayville and Vermillion during high school. After graduating in 1946, he played semi-pro baseball for the Vermillion Eagles. They became the State Champions in 1948 for North and South Dakota. This team went on to play in the semi-pro National Tourney in Wichita, Kansas. Later Jake played in Yankton for the semi-pro team, the Yankton Terrys. At this time, he was also attending Yankton College, but his baseball career and college were interrupted when he contracted polio at 19. Jake graduated from Yankton College in 1953. He went on to coach American Legion baseball for 10 years in southeastern South Dakota while also working at the American State Bank in Yankton. In 1972, he moved to Minneapolis to work for the Sunbeam Corporation as an accountant. Retiring in 1986, he returned to Gayville. On September 10, 2001, Jake married June Snow and they resided in Yankton since 2002. Those who will cherish his memory are his Wife, June (Snow) Lee of Yankton, SD; nieces: Cathy (Tom) Schaefer of Minnetonka, MN, Cheri (Larry) Buffington, and Cyndy Beers; brother, Duane Lee; and sister, Ardys (Eugene) Olson, all of Gayville, SD.