Mary Michell Lee

On July 23, 1923 in Rappahannock, Virginia Howard and Dorothy Brooks welcomed a beautiful baby girl
into the world. The second of three children, Michele Brooks was a force to be reckoned from the start.
Her brother’s Hugh and Theodore loved her deeply and protected their sister at every turn. She loved to
dance and to read poetry and often recounted tales of performing ballet and poetry for Mary McLeod
Bethune. Michele loved to learn and excelled academically. She graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar
High School in Washington, DC.
When telling the story of how she got to Tennessee, Michele often recounted the story of how her friend
wanted to introduce “his cute friend” to the “farm boy from TN” that he met while serving in the US
Army. That farm boy was Sinclair Lee Sr., and on November 30, 1942 he became her husband. Sinclair and
Michele loved each other from the start and affectionately referred to each other as “Muddy”, though no
one ever knew why. From their union came their greatest joys, their children, Andrei and Sinclair Lee.
Later, they adopted Michele’s great niece, Magdalena Hicklen, making their family complete.
Michele loved to help people whenever she would. It only made sense for that innate desire to help
translated to a desire to heal. Michele became a Medical Technician at George W. Hubbard Hospital at
Meharry Medical College. It was there that she met her best friend, Christine “Pat” Browne Sharpe. It was
Pat who convinced her to go study to become a Licensed Practical Nurse. She then returned to school at
Tennessee State University and graduated in 1969 as a Registered Nurse. Joined the Alpha Chi Chapter of
Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Incorporated and always held her sorors in a special place in her heart. She
continued her work at Hubbard where she eventually became the Charge Nurse for the Operating Room.
She took her responsibilities seriously, leaving little room for error, and was well liked and well respected
by everyone she met, especially the new medical students.
In 1990, after the birth of her grandson Warren, Michele retired from the hospital. The only thing she
loved more than being a mother, was being a grandmother. Of course, retirement didn’t last that long. In
1993 she returned to Tennessee State, this time an instructor in the Nursing program. When she noticed
some of her students having difficulty reaching their full potential she, along with some of the other
instructors created a tutoring program for the nursing students. This program not only raised grades but
allowed students the one on one interaction with Michele and others to become capable and competent
nurses, and increase the success rate in which they passed their state boards.
When Michele retired, again, she loved to spend her days out in her yard gardening and became the go
to green thumb in her circle of friends. She loved to joke that she inspired her neighbors to copy her work
because she could make the yard look so good. She loved to play Bridge and looked forward to hosting
and attending her monthly card parties for many years.
On Tuesday December 29, 2018 Michele was reunited in heaven with her “Muddy”. She was preceded
in death by her parents, Howard and Dorothy Brooks, her brothers, Hugh and Theodore (affectionately
known as Finky), and her devoted husband, Sinclair Lee Sr. She is survived by her children, Judge Andrei
Ellen Lee, Sinclair Lee Jr., Magdalena (Nathaniel) Hicklen; her grandchildren Joshua Griffin, Amiee Sadler,
Warren Sadler, Sinclair Lee III, Spencer Hicklen; her great granddaughter Destiny Blair Lee Sadler; and a
host of other family and friends.