Geraldine (Walker) Lee

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Biography

Geraldine was born August 25, 1917, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the third child of George Anderson Walker, Sr. and Helen Manuel Walker. Her parents and two older brothers lived briefly in the area. By 1920, her father was no longer living with the family and Helen had moved with the children to her hometown, Benton Harbor Michigan, and was residing with her mother, Mrs. Sarah Lett Manuel. Little is known of the family at this point, but apparently, it was coming apart--both parents later remarried-- and there is no evidence that after 1920, Geraldine's parents lived together again other than briefly. Helen and her children presumably were living in Chicago after the youngest child, Gordon, was born in 1920, based on the residence given at the time of his death in April of 1921.

According to information given to me by Geraldine, at the age of 3, she was adopted by Clara and Daniel Dubisson, a well-to-do childless couple from Little Rock, Arkansas, who owned a funeral home there and had family and social connections in Chicago. I don't know exactly how or by whom the adoption was arranged or brokered. I do know by oral tradition that she was living with her mother and brothers at the time of her adoption and that it was a direct adoption between the parties, with no agency involved. I've never found a legal record of it, but I haven't done an exhaustive search. She passed away in 2007. Geraldine, now Dubisson, was lovingly raised by her new parents in Little Rock, with many advantages that most people lacked during the 1920s and 30's after the Great Depression hit. Sadly, her adoptive mother died from complications of diabetes when she was just 12. She was raised by her adoptive father, Dan Dubisson a wealthy and respected African-American businessman, and his housekeeper, Mrs. Anthalue Lee, who was a surrogate mother during these years. Mr. Dubisson eventually remarried at some point during Geraldine's teenage years to a widow, Mrs. Lula Blount, who proved to be a loving stepmother.

Geraldine attended Dunbar High School and graduated at the top of her class at the age of 16. Due to her young age, her parents decided that she should start college close to home, so she attended Philander Smith College in Little Rock before eventually transferring to Talladega College, where she received her Bachelor's degree in history. After graduation, she taught elementary school for several years. She met her future husband, Edwin Lee, on a train coming home for the holidays around 1938. Following an extended long-distance courtship, they married on Christmas day,1941,just after he graduated Meharry Medical College.The wedding took place at Bethel AME Church, Little Rock, just 3 weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. About 900 guests (church capacity) attended. Within a few weeks, her new husband, who had enlisted in the military, was immediately sent directly to Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania for his training as an army doctor. For another year or so, they moved wherever the U.S. Army sent them, first to Louisiana, then to Tuscon Arizona ( Fort Huachuca) to Ludlow, California, until finally he was deployed to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. After his deployment, Geraldine returned home to her parents and lived in Little Rock. During this time, she taught school and also worked at an ordnance plant in Jackson, AR, manufacturing munitions in support of the war effort

At the close of the war, her husband returned home and the couple moved to St. Louis so he could complete his internship and residency at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. After the birth of their oldest child and the completion of his training in 1950, Geraldine's husband set up his medical practice in Springfield, Illinois where he became a respected physician and community leader and she raised their four children. They lived in Springfield for the rest of their lives, with her husband preceding her in death passing in 1993. She died at home of natural causes at the age of 89 in 2007.

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Sources

1. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by Anonymous Lee, Friday, June 13, 2014. Replace this citation if there is another source.

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