God, in his infinite wisdom, called home the matriarch of our family, Vivian Edmonds White Lee, at the age of 97. She was born on December 22, 1928, to the late William Clarence Edmonds and Julia Howell Edmonds of Surry, Virginia. She was raised in a loving home with four brothers and three sisters.
Vivian attended Surry County Public Schools and later in life earned her GED from the State of West Virginia.
In the early forties, she was joined in holy matrimony to the late Edward White Sr. God blessed this union with five children: Edward White Jr., Charles White, Louise White Marsh, Joseph Lee White, and Edna White Williamson.
God then blessed her to marry and share sixty-one years of marital bliss with the late Thomas E. Lee of Williamsburg, Va. This union was blessed with one son, Mark Lee, as well as Thomas’ six children.. They were always devoted to their twelve children. For most people, raising twelve children would have been a challenge, but not for Vivian and Tom. Their love of children continued when they reached out and extended their heart and home to many foster children. They later became foster parents for the Williamsburg-James City County Social Services.
Vivian was a member of St. John Baptist Church on Penniman Road in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she served on the Pastor’s Care team, the Senior Choir, the Gospel Choir, and the Busy Bees Club.
Vivian’s husband, Thomas, was the owner and operator of the Lee Local Moving Company of Williamsburg, VA. She later assisted him in the company, taking care of the office while he was out in the field, and then later opened The Lee Local Moving used furniture store. She also started a cleaning service, cleaning homes in Kingsmill, Ford’s Colony, Governor’s Land, and the Williamsburg-James City County school board office buildings on Mounts Bay Road, among many other accomplishments. Vivian was a jack of all trades and worked well in her later years. She was a seamstress, an upholsterer, an interior decorator, and some would even say she was a carpenter. Tom Lee would come home in shock to find the wall had been hammered down. She was a cashier for Woolworth Drug Stores and the Roses department store. She drove tour buses for Colonial Williamsburg and Williamsburg- James City County Public Schools. She worked for the Williamsburg Landing elderly care and did private duty in-home care.
In the early sixties, she became the manager of the Pacesetters band featuring her children. Under her management, Vivian made some of the group outfits. She arranged travel and orchestrated all business transactions. After traveling on the road, the group went to sing in places like The Hampton Coliseum, The Apollo Theater in New York, and various military bases such as Ft Eustis, Langley Air Force Base, and Fort Lee. The group also had the opportunity to open for James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and many others.
In 1977, with all her hard work, The Pacesetters recorded under the name “Desire” and went on to record two songs. “I’ll never turn my back on you,” featuring Louise, and “Love Toll” featuring Joe Lee White. These songs remain online to this day.
Preceding her in death are her husbands, Edward White Sr. and Thomas E. Lee Sr.; three children, Edward White Jr., Charles White, and Edna White; a grandson, Everette Marsh; and Barbara Lee Odegaard and Thomas E. Lee Jr.
Vivian leaves to cherish her precious memories her children, Joseph Lee White (Javone), Louise Marsh, Mark Lee (Crystal), Dale Cherry, Marjorie Bannister, Thomasine Lewis, and Roger Lee; brother, Deacon Joseph Edmonds; sister, Tessie Beale (Lawrence); and a host of grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.
