UVa-Wise names Lewey Lee volunteer of the year, Hunter Smith benefactor of the year

UVa-Wise Chancellor David J. Prior (right) presents Volunteer of the Year Lewey K. Lee with a mirror featuring Crockett Hall, Lee’s residence hall when he was a student of what was then Clinch Valley College. Lee’s stewardship to the College includes the establishment of the Lewey K. Lee and Brenda B. Lee Scholarship in 2006. His wife Brenda is a 1970 graduate of the College.

Lewey K. Lee has been named the 2007 Volunteer of the Year at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise for his longtime support of the institution.

A 1964 alumnus of the College, Lee serves as the vice president of the UVa-Wise Foundation Board of Directors. He also has served on the Board of Managers for the Poor Farm Society and as president of the Alumni Association. In 2005, Lee received the UVa-Wise Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Lee’s stewardship to the College includes the establishment of the Lewey K. Lee and Brenda B. Lee Scholarship in 2006. Brenda is a 1970 graduate of the College.

In a presentation held at the College’s annual Benefactors Celebration on Oct. 20, Chancellor David J. Prior considered Lee “a person who holds our College close to his heart and demonstrates that everyday.”

Lee is one of 13 children born to coal miner Manford Lee and his wife, Fannie Saylor Lee, who ran the family’s country store and gas station in Rose Hill.

A 1962 graduate of Thomas Walker High School, Lee attended Clinch Valley College before it became a four-year school. While at the College, he served as student body president and lived in Crockett Hall, now under renovation as part of the College’s largest-ever construction phase.

UVa-Wise Chancellor David J. Prior presents Benefactor of the Year Hunter J. Smith with a portrait of the Lila Vicars Smith House during the College’s annual Benefactors Celebration on Oct. 20. Smith’s generosity made possible the renovation of the home, which is the official residence of the College chancellor’s family. The house is named for the mother of Smith’s late husband, Carl William Smith.

Lee finished his undergraduate degree at Lincoln Memorial University and received his master’s degree from East Tennessee State University. In 1978 he graduated with a degree in law from Samford University.

He began practicing law with fellow alumnus Paul Phipps at the law firm of Lee and Phipps, with offices in Wise and Clintwood. Lee and Phipps have also established a scholarship at UVa-Wise for deserving students.

The Lees have two sons, Nathan and Aaron. Aaron is married to Sheena DelRae Whitt Lee, a 2007 UVa-Wise graduate.

Also recognized during the event was the College’s Benefactor of the Year, Mrs. Hunter J. Smith.

Smith’s generosity made possible the renovation of the Lila Vicars Smith House, which is the official residence of the College chancellor’s family. The house is named for the mother of Smith’s late husband, Carl William Smith.

Smith not only provided the gift to make the renovation possible, but she also took an active role in guiding the project, providing advice on the building, landscape and interior design.

Posted November 12, 2007