Jeffrey E. “Jeff” Lee

Jeffrey E. “Jeff” Lee

Muscatine

Jeffrey E. “Jeff” Lee, 71, of Muscatine, Iowa passed away Friday, July 4, 2025 at home surrounded by his beloved family. A visitation was held on Saturday, July 12, 2025 from 9:00 – 11:00 am at Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral & Cremation Services of Muscatine; funeral followed the visitation at 11:00 am. Burial is at the Winfield Cemetery. Memorials in Jeff’s name may be made to the Wesley United Methodist Church. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservices.com.

Jeff was born on October 6, 1953 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to Harold and Gwen (Owens) Lee. He was blessed with a wonderful family with loving and devoted parents and a loving sister, Marlene. In addition to his parents and sister, much of his childhood was spent with his grandparents, Herbert and Mabel Lee and Randall and Velta Owens; and his great-grandparents Earl and Maude Owens. Jeff also spent a lot of time with his numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Family was a very important part of his childhood and his life was filled with numerous family get-togethers and celebrations. Jeff and his family moved to Muscatine when he was five and he spent the rest of his life in Muscatine creating lifelong friendships and memories. Jeff graduated from Muscatine High School in 1972 and Muscatine Community College in 1974. Later in life, after his parents entered their 90’s. Jeff devoted most of his days to being their caretaker, visiting them in their assisted living apartment every day for most of the day. It became his home away from home.

For much of his life, Jeff worked at the Muscatine Journal, where he became as much of a fixture there as the paper was in the community. Jeff grew up with the Journal, starting his career as a young boy carrying papers, meeting people who would become lifelong friends. Through the years, he took on many roles at the paper – layout, circulation, production, prepress, the obituary desk, building maintenance – there wasn’t much Jeff didn’t do. While Mark Twain may be the most famous name in the story of the Muscatine Journal, Jeff also managed to make a name for himself during his nearly 50 years there, affectionately known by his co-workers as “A Jeff of all trades” and “Journal Jeff”.

His friends often told Jeff that he was the real “Lee” in “Lee Enterprises”, the company that owned the Journal, and he proved them right when he earned the Lee President’s Award, making what for him was a rare trip out of state, to Colorado, to receive the award. It was a well-deserved pat on the back from his peers, but even then he wasn’t one to take a victory lap; he just wanted to get back to home and his work.

Jeff was a tireless worker. When not putting in his 40 (and more) hours on the job, he could be found working on projects, both his own and for others, from simple handyman tasks to major remodeling projects. Jeff’s commitment to his craft can be found in homes and buildings throughout Muscatine.

For Jeff, his job was his profession, but his craft was his passion. He could often be found working in his shop, turning his toil and talent into a hope chest for a friend or millwork for his house. After his career with the Journal came to a close, he spent his retirement years doing anything but retiring. He took a job at Menards, and continued working on his home that overlooked the Mississippi River.

It was that home that became a special point of pride for Jeff. For him, his to-do list was never done. During the decades he lived there, he took that house and made it a home where he could sit back and look around at all that he had accomplished, taking pride in jobs well done. Then, he would turn his gaze toward the view that he loved from his back porch, one that stretched out before him across sweeping and well-tended back yard, watching people on the bike trail below and relaxing in the serenity of the river’s flow off in the distance. He enjoyed it when friends would visit so he could show them around his home, pointing to projects done and projects begun, and talking about all the plans he had for the place.

Jeff was friend to all, willing to lend a hand when they needed it, whether it was giving them a ride or helping out with a project. There weren’t many people Jeff didn’t know. He loved sharing a drink and some laughs with friends at pubs and restaurants around town, shooting a game of pool, enjoying a basket of wings, and catching up on the latest scuttlebutt around town.

For many years, Jeff looked forward to hosting his annual fall party, where family, friends, co-workers and neighbors would gather either on his back patio or in later years for a roaring bonfire under a moonlit sky. Jeff could always be found tending to guests, stoking the fire and talking to everyone there, proudly telling them about the latest task he had tackled and what he wanted to work on next.

Jeff built many things during his time – a life, career, countless projects – but for those who knew him, it’s the friendships he built that he’ll be most remembered for, leaving lasting memories, and more than a few smiles with the people whose lives he was part of.

And from time to time, those people will look up at the sky and wonder how his handiwork serving him in the hereafter – no doubt there will be a little sawdust on the clouds, and jeff will finally have all the time he needs to get that to-do list done.

Jeff is survived by his mother Gwen; sister Marlene (Bob) Fields; niece Nicole Fields; devoted aunt Betty Huston; aunts Bernice Lee and Kay Downing; along with numerous cousins.

He was preceded in death by his father Harold Lee; grandparents and great-grandparents; as well as his uncles Ivan Lee, Terry Huston and Keith Baker; his aunts Louise Beaman and Dorothy Baker.