Valori A. Lee, 59, died in her sleep on Friday, July 30.

She was born in Denver, Colorado to Florence and Jim Richie. She moved to Stockton where she grew up and later resided, after living in Denver, Colorado, then Orinda and Oakdale.

Mrs. Lee was employed at Venture Academy with San Joaquin County Office of Education. She touched many people. She was a teacher and lover of the arts. She loved teaching, traveling, and learning. Her dedication to empowering people of all ages ranged from in the classroom as an elementary school teacher, to Modesto Junior College Art Gallery Director, to home school teacher and counselor. She worked hard to achieve accreditations for her schools and herself.

She received Bachelors degrees in Art History and Spanish from UC Davis then continued to get her first Masters degree at Denver University in Business Administration. Most recently she graduated from CSU Stanislaus with her second Masters of Education and was halfway through her doctorate at USF in Multi Cultural Education.

She was a participant in The World Campus Afloat program in fall of 1969, she later became a board member of The Semester at Sea program. She was also a member of Sacramento’s Golden State Museum and California Commission of the Arts.

She is survived by her children, Andrea and Thomas Lee.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas A. Lee Jr.

A celebration of life will be held at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 8 at the home of Thelma Stewart, 1049 Bristol Ave., Stockton.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to a scholarship fund that has been set up in her memory. Checks may be made payable to the San Joaquin County Office of Education’s Educational Foundation (SJCOEEF), notated to the memory of Valori A. Lee, and sent to Venture Academy, P.O. Box 213030, Stockton, CA 95213-9030.