Robert E Lee

Robert Eugene Lee (Bobby) died at Jamestown Regional Medical Center on April 21, 2026 at the age of 100 as a result of a fall. He was born to Arthur and Gudrun Lee on June 13, 1925 and had two sisters. He graduated from Jamestown High School in 1944 and went to UND where he became class president. He also attended Jamestown College where he played on the basketball team. He then studied HVAC systems at Wahpeton Technical College and in the summer worked with his father to learn the bricklaying trade. He chose masonry as a career and worked alongside his father and cousins for nearly 40 years. He did much of the brickwork on Trinity Lutheran Church and buildings at Jamestown University. He passed on his trade to his son, Steven. He met Dorothy Christina (Chris) Olson, who came from Chicago to work as a speech therapist at the now named Anne Carlson School, and they married in 1950. He built their home in 1951, mostly single-handedly. It was there that he had lived for the rest of his life, and recently alongside his amazing caregiver son, Paul, for the last ten years. His hobbies included gardening, archery, racing snowmobiles, and woodworking. Bobby and Chris raised four children together and they would all would tell you they had a wonderful upbringing. Bobby was a volunteer fireman at the Jamestown Rural Fire Department for over fifty years. The single-channel alert device called a plectron would go off in his bedroom at all hours of the day and night, summoning him to fires throughout the countryside. After retiring from masonry he built houses in Jamestown, drove school bus for a time and also earned his real estate license. Bobby was a storyteller and kept people entertained with all of his knowledge of interesting facts. He would tell you how many gallons of water flowed through the Jamestown Reservoir. Last year the family gave Bobby a 100th Birthday Party and he had the time of his life seeing everyone doting on him and being amazed at his longevity and life’s accomplishments. 

He is survived by his sons, Steven and Paul of New Hampshire, his daughter, Karen, of Wisconsin, his grandchildren, Jarret and Crystal, of Oregon, Jessica of Wisconsin, Stan of South Carolina, and four great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife, Chris, and daughter, Linda. 

There will be a memorial service at Trinity Lutheran Church to be announced.