African American

sandensea

(22,850 posts) Mon Nov 26, 2018, 01:12 PM Nov 2018

Oprah Winfrey's mom Vernita Lee dies on Thanksgiving at age 83

Oprah Winfrey's mother, Vernita Lee, died at her Milwaukee home last week, her family announced Monday.

Lee was 18 when she gave birth to her first child in rural Mississippi, naming her "Orpah" after a woman mentioned in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Ruth, but many mispronounced it as Oprah and the name stuck.

She died this Thanksgiving at the age of 83.

Lee was a lifetime member of the NAACP and her daughter joked at the dinner that Lee had been asking her for years to come to Waukesha County to speak at the Freedom Fund event.

She is survived by her daughters Winfrey and Lee, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

At: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/obituaries/2018/11/26/oprahs-mother-vernita-lee-dies-her-milwaukee-home/2113618002/

Vernita Lee, 1935-2018.

5 replies

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Highlight:

Oprah Winfrey's mom Vernita Lee dies on Thanksgiving at age 83 (Original Post) sandensea Nov 2018 OP

. littlemissmartypants Nov 2018 #1

R.I.P. Ms. Lee spicysista Nov 2018 #2

Rest In Power Ms Lee JHan Nov 2018 #3

RIP Ms Lee. The Polack MSgt Nov 2018 #4

Rest in Peace, Ms. Lee. Kind of Blue Nov 2018 #5

littlemissmartypants

(25,842 posts)

1. .

Reply to sandensea (Original post)

Mon Nov 26, 2018, 02:57 PM

Nov 2018

spicysista

(1,731 posts)

2. R.I.P. Ms. Lee

Reply to sandensea (Original post)

Mon Nov 26, 2018, 04:27 PM

Nov 2018

JHan

(10,173 posts)

3. Rest In Power Ms Lee

Reply to sandensea (Original post)

Mon Nov 26, 2018, 05:19 PM

Nov 2018

The Polack MSgt

(13,451 posts)

4. RIP Ms Lee.

Reply to sandensea (Original post)

Tue Nov 27, 2018, 01:46 PM

Nov 2018

Kind of Blue

(8,709 posts)

5. Rest in Peace, Ms. Lee.

Reply to sandensea (Original post)

Tue Nov 27, 2018, 06:55 PM

Nov 2018

The most powerful thing I heard Oprah did for her mom, besides retiring her into a life of comfort that she deserved, was to help Ms. Lee let go of the trauma of giving up a daughter in 1963.

Thanks, sandensea, for posting the photo of Ms. Lee and her two surviving daughters that includes the daughter given up long ago, Ms. Patricia Amanda Faye Lee. Just beautiful.

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