Mark Leroy Lee, 59, of Bonner Springs, KS. died Thurs. May 14, 2020 at the Overland Park, Kansas Center for Rehabilitation and Health Care. The family will receive friends following all current restrictions at a Memorial Visitation from 10 to 11 am, and Memorial Service at 11 am, both on Friday, August 14, 2020 at the Alden-Harrington Funeral Home in Bonner Springs, KS, family committal will follow in the Bonner Springs Cemetery. Mark was born March 6, 1961, son of Herbert and Dorothy Lee in Bonner Springs, KS. He grew up on the family vegetable farm near Bonner Springs. He graduated from Bonner Springs High School in 1979. He graduated with honors including the "Citizen of the Year Award" for his dedication to Sports Reporting for the school newspaper, the Bonner Springs Chieftain, Kansas City Kansan and the Kansas City Star.
He continued his sports writing at University of Kansas and became the KU Sports Correspondent for the Kansas City Star. Mark completed a bachelor degree in Speech and English at KU in 1983. Mark continued his education at Eastern New Mexico University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Communication in 1984. He continued to study Communications at Southern Illinois University until 1986.
While at SIU, Mark worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Communications.
From 1987 to 2005, Mark was an Adjunct Instructor in English and Speech at Kansas City Community College. Mark married Kimberly Pettigrew on May 28, 1994 in Bonner Springs, KS. Mark and Kim worked together selling vegetables raised on the family farm at Farmers’ Markets in Bonner Springs, Lawrence and Leavenworth.
Throughout his life, Mark enjoyed following all of the local high school and professional sports teams. He especially enjoyed celebrating the KC Royals 2015 World Series and the KC Chiefs 2019 Super Bowl victories. Mark continued to his last days writing and typing in journals and letters to his family. Mark and Kim were members of the United Methodist Church of Bonner Springs, Kansas. Mark and Kim celebrated nearly 26 years of marriage.
Mark is survived by his wife, Kim; mother, Dorothy Bretthorst; brother, David Lee all of Bonner Springs, KS. His sister, Jolinda (Clinton) Allerdings of Plevna, MT. two nieces, Brandi Allerdings of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Nicole Allerdings of Spearfish, SD. Mother and father-in-law Joyce and Bill Pettigrew and grandmother-in -law Goldie Clemons. He was preceded in death by his father, Herbert Lee in 2017.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the United Methodist Church of Bonner Springs, KS.