Cheri and I have had a difficult week as we lost our friend and techie extraordinaire, Chris Lee on Monday. Chris (or CLee as we affectionately called him) was just 37, but had an old soul that was always upbeat. I can’t tell you how many different production jams Chris got Bulldawg Illustrated (and many Leavys for that matter) out of over the last 14 years. No matter what time of day or night, if I had a problem that involved a computer, it was always CLee to the rescue.
To say I will miss him is an understatement. But it’s not because of the thousands of fixes he miraculously made over the years. Instead what I will miss most was his uncanny ability not to sweat the small stuff. There’s a lot to be learned from someone that always has a smile on his face.
Also what I will gather from Chris’ passing is to never take friends or co-workers for granted. Whenever he bailed me out of a jam, I ALWAYS said a big thank you, but now I’m left wondering if he really knew how much I appreciated him. I miss you bud, but know you will be rooting hard (from high above) on the Dawgs on Saturday versus Vandy. And it’s so very comforting to know your love of UGA football was sparked by the countless moments we shared working on Bulldawg Illustrated together.
Below, you will find the bio about Chris that we posted on the BI website back in 2008 …
Rest In Peace … CLee!
Chris Lee was born in Statesboro in 1979 and was promptly moved to the Golden Isles with his parents one year later. Growing up in Brunswick, he developed a love for cartooning and design. His dad worked as the systems/IT manager for Georgia Pacific for 25 years, so he always had a computer around to tinker with. He attended Brunswick High School and graduated in 1998 with a vocational technical seal from four years of graphic arts as an elective. That’s where his love for computers and the printing industry married his interests in design and art.
During the following years, he moved to Atlanta, back to Brunswick, back to Atlanta, then to Watkinsville working in various press and promotional companies before returning to Brunswick in 2001. At that point he ended up working in restaurants as both a server and a chef, always finding a way to end up offering his artistic and computer skills to his employers.
In 2004 he began working for The Brunswick News and he realized how much he loved the publishing industry, not just the printing aspect alone. He met Vance Leavy and quickly realized the extremity of Vance’s passion for Georgia football (It wasn’t hard to notice). While always available to help with outputting each issue of Bulldawg Illustrated in the pre-press department, Vance asked him to take over the web master duties for the publication in 2006. After a strange coincidence of events, Chris ended up moving to Athens.
Chris shamefully admits he has never been much of a sports fan, let alone college football. The closest thing he had to a sports addiction was catching the occasional Braves game on aSunday afternoon. He started doing the layout for the Bulldawg Illustrated right when football season started. After living in downtown Athens during a football season and working with the fun crew at the Bulldawg Illustrated, he was hooked.