Obituary of Joan Mary Lee

A warm, bright light has left this earth, although we can still hear echoes of her infectious laughter. Joan Lee, 88, of Palm Bay, passed on Monday, January 20, 2020 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Joan was born to the late George W. Zeltner and Lottie Geffinger in East Orange, NJ. She attended East Orange High School, and spent her life in East Orange, Parsippany, and Randolph, NJ, and finally in Palm Bay, Florida. Mom was a devoted friend to many, and had a zany sense of humor. She loved her ever present pets, and she enjoyed reading, exercising, singing, dancing, theatre, a wide range of music genres, black and white movies, and musicals. Mom was a staunch supporter of animal rights, volunteering for over a decade with the Humane Society of South Brevard. Mom worked in several hospitals as a Medical Staff Coordinator, a very successful career that she enjoyed immensely. Growing up with Mom was like living in a Lucille Ball sitcom. Our dad, William C. Lee, Jr., or “Pop”, was Mom’s ever patient (well, mostly) Ricky Ricardo, without the accent. They were great fun to be with, and were married 56 years. Mom joins Pop in Heaven, along with her brother Robert Zeltner, infant sister Doris Zeltner, and best friend Janice Raisch. She leaves us behind, missing her always: Daughters Cynthia Koullias of Wyomissing, PA, and Caroline Lewis of Melbourne Beach; her son David William Lee of Melbourne; Sons-in-law Iconomos Koullias and Kevin Lewis; 6 grandchildren, Anthony, Stephen, and Cassandra Koullias—with fiancé Andrew Ondra–Emily and David Lewis, and James Johnson; and 17 nieces and nephews from the wonderfully large Lee clan.  Rest in peace, Mom…Grandma…Aunt Joan. You will be missed. Please join us in a Celebration of Mom’s Life on Saturday, February 22nd, at 1:00 p.m. at Ammen Family Cremation and Funeral Care, 1001 South Hickory Street, Melbourne, FL 32901. The family asks that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to Hospice of Health First – Melbourne (https://hf.org/hospice/), who cared for Mom beautifully in her last days on Earth. For animal advocates, we ask for donations to PURRS (www.PurrsInBrevard.org), a Brevard County nonprofit organization that works with Brevard Spay / Neuter Clinic, whose goal is to end animal overpopulation in our County in the next two years. 5,189 animals were spayed last year, and if those numbers remain the same for the next two years, we may very well see a bright and shining end to pet overpopulation in our county that Mom would have cried over for sheer happiness.