May 31, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
A DeKalb County basketball legend will be laid to rest today (Sunday).
79 year old Helen Fay Lee of Smithville passed away Thursday night at her residence. She was also a retired educator having served for many years as teacher, high school girls basketball coach, and guidance counselor.
Helen, who became known as “Fabulous Fay” for her athletic skills on the court including an unstoppable hook shot, rose to fame in the 1950’s during the years of half court basketball. She had developed a love for the game prior to high school while playing for Coach Floyce Vickers at the New View Elementary School in the Young Bend Community. During the 1958-59 season, Helen helped lead the DeKalb County (Smithville High School) girls basketball team to the State Tournament Championship game before losing to Porter 47 to 46. The girls team, coached by Everett Lee Mitchell, finished the season 24-2.The two defeats included a 50-49 loss to Lebanon during the regular season and the loss to Porter in the state championship game. She was a four year player with many accolades, including All-District, All-State, and District MVP. Helen is also a member of the 1,000 point club.
Helen later joined an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) squad, coached by John Head and went on to play for a national championship team that included Tennessee women’s basketball legend, Nera White. Interested in becoming a basketball coach and school teacher, Helen enrolled in Peabody College in Nashville after two years on the AAU team and got her first coaching job at Nashville East Senior High in 1965 after graduating college. Helen later met and married Rick Lee and after Rick’s tour of duty in Vietnam, the couple relocated from Missouri to Oklahoma, and then to Nashville, before settling in Smithville where Helen joined the teaching staff at DCHS and served as the head girls basketball coach for eight seasons. Rick also became a teacher in the local school system. Helen later moved from the classroom to the administration at DCHS where she served as guidance counselor until her retirement in 2002.
Helen was born on April 21, 1941 in Smithville to her parents, the late Woodrow Wilson & Lillie Mai Taylor Young. She was a member of the Mt View The Baptist Church of Christ.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 2 p.m. from the Chapel of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home. Bro. Dennis Wood will officiate and burial will follow in the Young Bend Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday from 10:30 a.m. until the service time at 2:00 p.m. Due to Covid-19 precautions, social distance measures will be observed.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Misty Ross and a brother, Eddie Wayne Young. Survivors include her husband of 54 years, Rick Lee; two grandchildren, Ben and Maggie Felton; and a brother, James Young all of Smithville. Two sisters, Carolyn and John Whitley of Mt. Juliet and Judy Rodgers of Hendersonville. Six nieces and nephews also survive.
Love-Cantrell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.