Lucy "Lee" Lorraine Lauderdale

Lucy Lorraine Lauderdale - known lovingly during her life as Lee, Mom, Grandma, Gabbie, Mississippi Grandma and Muddle - passed away Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, at Northpointe Health & Rehab in Meridian, MS. She was 95 years old.

Her life began November 9, 1928, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. She seldom spoke of her early years, which unfolded against the backdrop of the Great Depression and WWII. Rather, her most cherished and oft-told memories seemed to begin around September 24, 1953. That’s when she married her husband of 61 years, Leslie (Les) Lowell Lauderdale (dec. 2014).

Lee was a proud Navy wife, holding leadership roles in the Navy Wive’s Club during Les’ 30-year tenure which took them from California to Washington to Arkansas to South Carolina and finally to the Naval Air Station in Meridian, Mississippi. During these years the couple built great friendships all across the country and brought up three children - Leslie Louise Lauderdale, Larry Lynn Lauderdale and Linda Lorraine Lauderdale. They liked to joke that they were clearly a couple of L-raisers. When Les retired from the Navy in 1974, the pair began volunteering together with the American Red Cross which ultimately led to a new career for them both. For the next 25 years and more, they traveled the world supporting and leading disaster recovery efforts following some of history’s most devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods. Hurricanes Frederic, Hugo and Andrew, and the 1989 San Francisco earthquake were just a few of the disasters they worked.

In her retirement, Lee honed the hobbies she’d accumulated over the course of her life, and she picked up some new ones as well. She was a skilled baker (her grandkids’ favorite), a master crocheter, an avid reader, and a fervent collector. For years, she and Les were regular sellers of glassware, collectibles and woodwork at the Meridian Collector’s Fair in Highland Park. She loved a good garage sale and was a fierce bidding opponent if something took her fancy at auction.

In the 1980s, she and her husband were early adopters of the original Nintendo game console, spending hours with their kids and grandkids playing Duck Hunt, Tetris and Dr. Mario, and pouring through Nintendo Power Magazine to learn all the secrets to the Legend of Zelda. When the first Gameboy came out, Lee had to have one. Her enthusiasm for video games carried well into the age of computers, smartphones and tablets, which greatly amused her kids and grandkids.

During the late 1990s, Lee developed a passion for genealogy, tracing the Lauderdale family tree to its Scottish roots and beyond with historical records dating back 900 years. She and her youngest daughter compiled and published two much-loved books for the Lauderdales: a historical record of the family tree from 1056-1994 and a cookbook filled with favorite family recipes and photos.

Into her 90s, Lee loved movies, puzzles, games, site-seeing and telling stories about the good times she’d had with her husband, their friends through the years and their beloved family. She could always be talked into a strawberry milkshake, even if she wasn’t hungry. If she WAS hungry, she liked well-done steak, fettuccine alfredo, a good shrimp cocktail and cheeseburgers. She did NOT like ketchup.

Having lived through so much history (the terms of 17 U.S. presidents!) in so many places, she was simply impossible to know completely, but she was loved.

Lee was preceded in death by her husband, Leslie (Les) Lowell Lauderdale (2014), her parents and her brothers and sisters-in-law. She is survived by her children: Leslie Louise Lauderdale of Littlestown, PA, Larry Lauderdale (Christine) of Plymouth, WI, Linda Lauderdale of Meridian; Grandchildren: Lauri Lewis (Micah), Michelle Brown (Darrin) of Littlestown, PA, Jennifer Worley (James) of Pace, FL, Crystal Lauderdale (Peter Masa) of Tampa, FL, Cody Lauderdale (Candice) of Hammond, LA, Hannah Williams (Gage) of Ocala, FL, Ethan Lauderdale (Brittney) of Mobile, AL, Lynsey Lauderdale (Connor Mancosky) of Seattle, WA, and Jessica Lauderdale of Seattle, WA; and Great-grandchildren: Michael Sipes, Austin Rowley (Alicia), Nathan Brown, Jackson Brown, JP Williams, Noah Williams, Camber Dellacer, Arian, Lauderdale, Hayden Lauderdale, and Raelynn Lauderdale; and sister-in-law Jeannie Lauderdale.

Graveside services will be held Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Meridian, Mississippi, with Bishop Jared Blalock officiating. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.