Pastor Lee remembered for principles, compassion

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

If you ask many of those who knew the late Rev. Morris W. Lee to share their thoughts, recollections and opinions about him, a picture will emerge of a man who was the quintessential practitioner of the social gospel.

The movement that came to prominence in the late 1800s brought mainly Christian principles in alignment with the social order. Many civil-rights and religious leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth in Birmingham, Ala., applied religious ethics and principles to tackling social problems such as economic and racial inequality, poverty and war.

“He was the consummate clergyman who was civic-minded and spoke for justice and reconciliation. His legacy will continue to be strong and vibrant, and he planted the seeds that will continue to harvest,” the Rev. Lewis W. Macklin II, pastor of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, said about the Rev. Mr. Lee, who was pastor of Third Baptist Church on the South Side for nearly 59 years before he died Friday. He was 83.

Mr. Lee was a close follower of King and believed strongly in the six principles of nonviolence, as well as standing up to and fighting against injustice, the Rev. Mr. Macklin explained.

The two men met in 1981 when Mr. Macklin was a student at Wilson High School. Mr. Macklin had his sights set on becoming a mortician, but Mr. Lee dissuaded him, saying that he would do better as a lawyer or in another field for which good communication skills were vital, recalled Mr. Macklin, who also praised the late pastor for his strong history acumen.

“He could pull something from history in a moment’s notice and give you a whole encyclopedia of knowledge – particularly about Youngstown,” Mr. Macklin continued.

Before beginning his ministry at Third Baptist in September 1960, Mr. Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Virginia Union University in Richmond. After arriving in the Mahoning Valley, he became one of the Youngstown Area Urban League’s founders and taught religion courses in Youngstown State University’s Black Studies Department.

In April 2001, he spoke at a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute at the Mahoning Country Club in Girard. He also was the 2018 recipient of the Rev. Elizabeth Powell Heritage Award for his efforts toward advocating for social justice and peace.

“He was a real stalwart minister and pillar of our community,” Penny Wells, executive director of Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, said, adding that he married her and her husband, Bill, in 1973. “He was a caring, nurturing person who looked after his flock.”

Mr. Lee also went out of his way to provide spiritual and other kinds of assistance to his parishioners, including helping some older ones pay their bills, Wells added. She also noted that the late civil-rights journalist Simeon Booker Jr. attended the church and that his father, Simeon Booker Sr., was pastor before Mr. Lee.

“He was a true man of God,” someone who always put others before himself, said Goldia McCall of Youngstown, a social worker for Catholic Charities Regional Agency who’s also Penny Wells’ sister-in law.

McCall remembered calling Mr. Lee to come to her home one day when she thought her mother was dying. Within 15 minutes, he was there praying for her, said McCall, who attends Third Baptist regularly.

Geneva “Jenny” F. Mason, owner of F.D. Mason Memorial Funeral Home in Youngstown and a church trustee, recalled that soon after his arrival in Youngstown, Mr. Lee lived for a while with her parents, David and Annie Fleming, until the parsonage was ready for him.

Mr. Lee also was a source of uplift to those who were downtrodden, yet he remained humble and “was not someone wanting to be on a pedestal,” said Mason, a lifetime Third Baptist Church member.

“He was an awesome man who will be greatly, greatly, greatly missed,” McCall added.

Mr. Lee leaves a son, Morris W. Lee Jr., a daughter, Mariam M. Lee, and one granddaughter.