John M. Lee, Jr.

John M. Lee Jr., 84, passed away on Saturday, September 2, 2017 with family by his side. John was born on July 14, 1933 in Monmouth, Illinois. John was the oldest son of John M. Lee and Stella Gray Lee. He met his wife, Judy Koloski, on a blind date arranged by mutual friends. They were married on April 14, 1956 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. He is survived by his wife Judy, his children Mike Lee of Galesburg, Laurie McKillip of Galesburg, Kelly (Chris) Sokol of Orlando, FL, Kevin (Kelly) Lee of Oswego, IL; six grandchildren Christopher (Ellen) Lee of Galesburg, Gregory (Marissa) McKillip of Chicago, Allison (Jon) VanFleet of Galesburg, MacKenzie Lee of Oswego, Matthew Sokol of Orlando and Colby Lee of Oswego; and 3 great grandchildren Cameron Coe, Hayden Taylor and Zoey VanFleet. He is also survived by his brother Bill Lee of Monmouth, his sister Margaret Lee of Galesburg and his brother-in-law Ray Childers of Washington, IL. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sisters Betty Crooks, Dorothy Childers, Maxine Ishmael, Shirley Lee and Barbara Lee.  John served in the US Navy during the Korean War. After leaving the service, he worked at various endeavors until he began working for the Galesburg Post Office where he worked for 28 years until his retirement in October 1992.  He was an avid golfer and bowler most of his life. He hit a hole in one at Bunker Links and another hole in one at Laurel Greens on May 14, 2012. He was a team member on several championship bowling leagues. He and his son Kevin went on the Honor Flight to Washington DC in September 2016. He enjoyed seeing his fellow veterans and the monuments to our countries servicemen and women. He was also a member of the Galesburg Color Guard and Legion Post 285 for many years.  A celebration of life services will be held on September 9, 2017 at the The Thomas Legacy Center in Galesburg from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm. Military rites will be conducted at 1:00 PM. A lunch buffet will be served. A private family burial of cremated remains will be at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation or to a charity of the donor’s choice.