8/13/2004

OBITUARIES Mr. Wallace William Gee 
    BURLINGTON — Mr. Wallace William Gee , 86, of 1552 Granville St., died at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2004, at the Hospice Home.

    A native of Alamance County, he was the husband of the late Edna Pearl Sullivan Gee , and the son of the late Charles Gee  and Evelyn Laughbacher Gee . He was a retired automobile franchise dealer and was a member of Macedonia Lutheran Church, where he served as Past President of the Church Council and was a member of the Men’s Bible Class and Men of Macedonia.

    He was a member of the Burlington Civitan Club-Past President and Deputy Governor for North Carolina, a member of the Alamance County Historical Museum, the Juvenile Court System, Board of Trustees of Alamance Community College and the Alamance Community College Foundation. He served on the Advisory Board of Old North State Boy Scouts of America, Past President of the Boy Scouts of America-Cherokee Council, member of the Alamance Regional Medical Center Alamap Board, retired from local boards of First Union and Wachovia, active and former chairman of the Alamance County Democrats, Past Delegate to the National Democratic Convention, member of the Grand Lodge FAAM of the District of Columbia (Freelance since 1950), Past Chairman of the Alamance County Dispute Settlement and Youth Services, and served on the Board of the Salvation Army.

    Survivors include four sons, Mr. Charles Daniel Gee  and wife, Joanne, of Pensacola, Fla., Mr. Thomas Gee  and wife, Lela, of Clear Lake, Calif., Mr. Bill Gee  and wife, Kay, of Gibsonville, and Mr. John F. Gee  and wife, Xylda, of Elon; a sister, Mrs. Estelle G. Smith and her husband, Herb, of Burlington; 11 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and a special friend, Betty Brewer of Burlington.

    The funeral will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004, at Macedonia Lutheran Church by the Rev. Stephen Rust. Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery.

    The family will receive friends at the Rich & Thompson Mortuary in Burlington from 4 to 8 this evening, and at other times at the residence.

    Memorials may be made to the Boy Scouts of America, Old North State Council, P.O. Box 29046, Greensboro, N.C. 27047; Alamance Community College, 1247 Jimmie Kerr Road, Haw River, N.C. 27258; Macedonia Evangelical Lutheran Church, 421 W. Front St., Burlington, N.C. 27215; Elon College Athletic Foundation, 2600 Campus Box, Elon, N.C. 27244; N.C. State Wolfpack Club, P.O. Box 37100, Raleigh, N.C. 27627-7100; or to Hospice and Palliative Care of Alamance-Caswell, 914 Chapel Hill Road, Burlington, N.C. 27215.

    Condolences may be sent to the family at info@richandthompson.com3, Mr. Wallace William Gee 

Wallace Gee  dies at 86

Volunteer, leader, philanthropist had ‘passion’ for helping

By Isaac Groves Times-News
    Burlington philanthropist, volunteer, leader and retired businessman Wallace Gee  died Wednesday at the age of 86.
    In July, Gee  received the most recent of many honors, the Salvation Army’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his 35 years of giving to and working with the charity.
    Besides being a member of the Salvation Army’s board of directors, Gee  was involved with the Burlington Civitan Club, Allied Churches, Alamance Community College, Meals on Wheels, Boy Scouts, Loaves and Fishes and many other organizations.
    "He seemed to have a passion for doing more than what one person should do for his community," said his friend of 65 years, Frank Bennett. "If you needed a favor, Wallace Gee  would do it for you."
    Gee’s  friends described him as a friendly but serious man dedicated to whatever work he took on. Bennett said Gee  seemed to have taken more on in the past five or six years.
    "He seemed to want to make his mark while he could," Bennett said "He was a very serious person. He liked a joke but he didn’t joke very much.
    "He’d talk a little chit-chat with you but then he’d get down to whatever business he was involved in, usually some benevolent project."
    Gee’s  wife, Edna Pearl Gee , died at 84 in 2002. The couple had been married since Wallace Gee  was 21. Gee  also had four sons, Charles, James, William  and John.
    Gee  was a Burlington native, but his work, his interests and his involvement in the Democratic Party made him friends all over the country, including former presidents Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson.
    In an interview with the Times-News earlier this year, he talked about the great things that Democrats like Johnson had done for the country. He also talked about the sense of betrayal he felt when President Bill Clinton admitted to an affair with a young intern. He took a picture of Clinton down from the wall in his home office.
    Gee’s  father, portrait photographer Charlie Gee , moved the family to what is now Grove Park, where he grew up.
    Gee  graduated from E.M Holt High School in 1933 and went to work with Rock Creek Dairy. In 1938 he went to work with the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. As a train engineer during World War II, Gee  hauled munitions and at the end of the war was one of the engineers who transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s body to New York after his death in 1945.
    In 1950 Gee  left the railroad for his health and returned to Burlington.
    Gee  became one of the biggest car dealers in Alamance County with AMC Jeep Inc., but he always seemed to have time to give to the community. Gee  began working with mentally handicapped children in 1956. He also served on the Alamance County Selective Service Board during the Vietnam War.
    One of Gee’s  proudest accomplishments was his work with what would later become the state community college system. From 1977 to 1980, Gee  served as president of the N.C. Trustees Association of Community Education Systems and helped draft legislation that created the modern community college system.
    He also served on the Board of Trustees for Alamance Community College and its forerunners, beginning in 1960.
    In 1981, Gee  was appointed to finish Frank Warren’s term on the Alamance County Board of Commissioners. After he retired from his business in 1983, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the General Assembly.
    While he never won an election, Gee  was heavily involved in the Democratic Party for more than 25 years. But Gee  said that party affiliation should never come before the good of the community.
    "Your politics don’t make no difference to me," he told a reporter. "I’m looking for good leadership."
    A long-time member of the Macedonian Lutheran Church, Gee  was peppered with awards for the last 20 years of his life. But while he accepted them with grace, he always gave credit to a higher power.
    "All the credit for anything I’ve done goes to God, because He has been with me and helped me all the way," Gee  said when he received his Salvation Army award in July.
    Gee  talked about his health problems earlier this year and said he believed the Lord could take away the cancer from his body.
    "The good Lord’s just been walking with me every day," he said.
    Funeral arrangements are incomplete and are being handled by Rich and Thompson Funeral and Cremation Service. Gee  passed away at the Hospice Home Wednesday.
Isaac Groves can be reached at isaac_groves@link.freedom.com 204