Evelyn Bouterse Lee
Evelyn Bouterse Lee, 92, formerly of Williamsburg, passed away October 13, 2021. She was born in Oklahoma City to Lt. Colonels Wesley and Katherine Bouterse, Salvation Army officers whose mission took their family to a variety of cities during her childhood. She graduated from Wake Forest College in North Carolina with a degree in English, and became an elementary school teacher in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She married Lewis “Bud” Lee, Jr. in 1952, their union lasting for 66 years until his death in 2019. During their life together they made their home in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Belleville, Illinois; and Falls Church and Williamsburg, Virginia.
Evelyn left the salaried working world when her two children were born and turned her full attention to caring for her family and volunteering for various church, civic, and school activities. A natural leader, she continued to take an active role in many organizations into her 80s. Early on, she was a room mother and Brownie leader. Later she was a member of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary. She also served as a docent
at museums and art galleries in Williamsburg and Washington, DC., including the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art. She worked as a “Friend of the Library” in Falls Church and Williamsburg.
A faithful member of the United Methodist Church, she served in a wide variety of positions at Epworth and St. Matthew's Methodist Churches in Belleville, Illinois. Later, she was president of the United Methodist Women and bell choir director at Dulin United Methodist Church in Falls Church and Treasurer for the UMW at Williamsburg United Methodist Church. Evelyn was a voracious reader and avid book club participant. As with many things, she kept track, filling numerous notebooks with the titles she read from 1954 through 2015, sometimes recording as many as 50 books a year. She learned to play bridge in college and was a formidable player for the next 60 years. She was also a member of a neighborhood “Lunch Bunch” in Williamsburg and
a somewhat late blooming opera fan, attending the Washington National Opera and later enjoying Virginia Opera performances in both Richmond and Norfolk.
Evelyn was an accomplished cook who never missed setting a full dinner out for the entire family with strict rules of no television, no phone calls, and no excuses for missing. In 1973, her ingenuity was challenged by the meat boycott, but she managed to put together seven days of meatless meals that the family ate enthusiastically. Later, she mastered Chinese cooking and continually experimented with new recipes. A lifeguard as a teenager, Evelyn never lost her
love for the water, particularly the ocean. She loved to travel, enjoying the planning, organizing,
record keeping, and photographic documentation almost as much as the trip itself. She and Bud traveled to every state in the U.S. as well as many foreign countries including China, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Brazil, and Jamaica.
Dynamic, engaged, and unusually independent, Evelyn was described as “a force of nature.” Smart and capable, she was inclined to speak her mind and take charge.
She is survived by her children, Tim Lee of Houston, Texas and Kathy Rogers and her husband David of Hampton, Virginia; grandchildren Wes Rogers of Hampton, Emma Rogers of Denver, Colorado; and sister Carolyn Gesner and her husband Marshall of Auburn, Georgia, both of whom are retired Salvation Army Majors.
A graveside service will be held Monday, October 25, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. at Parklawn Memorial Park, 2551 N. Armistead Ave., Hampton, Virginia, 23666. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests do-nations to The Salvation Army at https://give. salvationarmyusa.org/give.