Obituary of Kelly Lee

Kelly Rae Lee, of Chico, passed away January 22, 2011 at her home in Chico, at the age of 49 years young. She fought a long, hard and heroic battle with lung cancer. Kelly was born and raised in Chico and was the daughter of Sharron Quiring. Kelly graduated from Fair View High School and quickly became a hard working woman. She met her husband to be, David K. Lee at the tender age of 16 in 1977. They dated for 3 years and eventually were married for nearly 31 wonderful years. In 31 years they had two daughters, Cassie Wood and Krista Lee. She was also the "2nd" Mom to so many of her daughters' friends and always welcomed everyone with open and loving arms. She had such a big heart and passion for her children and grandchild. Kelly was so much more than a wife and mother; she was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother, and most of all, a friend to so many. She was the strongest woman her daughters knew, both mentally and physically, and taught them both how to be the same. She showed her strength by being a woman who could hold her ground, stand on her own two feet, and by fighting such a brave battle for her health until the end. Kelly was always a devoted and hard worker. She started her career at Tenneco West Almond and then became a school bus driver for the Chico Unified School District for 7 years. She then learned to be an end dump/bottom dump truck driver, where she worked side by side with her husband in their trucking business for 12 years. As a child, Kelly had a love for horses like no other. She spent all her free time in Los Molinos, practicing for her horse shows, where she won many, many awards. Later in life, Kelly was an avid softball player for many years and also enjoyed the outdoors. She loved to go camping, dune-buggying, and motorcycling. Her biggest hobby of all, was playing Bingo and a month before her passing, she finally hit her dream jackpot at Bingo. She couldn't have been more thrilled. Kelly is survived by her husband, David Lee; two daughters, Cassie Wood and husband, Nicholas, and Krista Lee and boyfriend, Dustin Horne and his son, Gusto; her mother and stepfather, Sharron and Robert Quiring, and two siblings, Mike Baker and Debbie Schortgen and husband, Rick. Also surviving her is one granddaughter, Macie Wood, who was lucky enough to know her "gamma" for 2 years. Kelly loved her very much. She was survived by many more loving family members and close friends as well. She was so young and will be missed by so many. A Graveside Service will be held on Friday, January 28, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. at Glen Oaks Memorial Park in Chico. A reception will follow at the Masonic Lodge on East Ave. also in Chico for all friends and family who would like to join.