Lee the Loving Daughter, Wife, and Mother
Born in Denver, Colorado, December 13, 1954, Lee was a daughter of the late Harold Milton Haugen, MD and the late Bertha Elizabeth Bjorke Haugen. She was a 1976 graduate of the University of Colorado, having earned her B.S. degree in Journalism.
During a whirlwind romance in 1984, while working in San Antonio, she met and married Don. They subsequently lived in Greenville, SC where she gave birth to twins, Brita and Harry. The Long family then moved to southern California where Lee gave birth to Jeremy. Finally they moved to Greenwood, SC in 1994, where Lee died in 2015 and where Don continues to reside.
Lee the Volunteer
Lee was a life member of the South Carolina Garden Clubs. She also served as Vice President and President of the Rose Garden Club, and president of the Greenwood Federation of Garden Clubs. Lee served on the SC Festival of Flowers board for several years.
For designing and planting the flower boxes and sewing costumes, Lee was named the Volunteer of the Year by the Greenwood Community Theater. She acted in several productions of the Greenwood Community Theater, most notably The Sound of Music, Lend Me a Tenor, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Littlest Angel, and Oliver.
Lee was actively involved with Toastmasters and the Women’s Leadership Council of the Greenwood Area Chamber of Commerce. She also served on the Grant Committee for the Greenwood Arts Council.
Lee the Christian Woman
A member of Greenwood First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Lee formerly taught the Elliott Class for many years as well as writing and teaching several of their Bible studies. She had served as Deacon, Vice President, and President of the Women of the Church. Lee also presented several first-person interpretations of women of the Bible.
Lee the Gardener
As much as Lee tried to resist it, she channeled her mother, Bertha, in more ways than one. An avid gardener like her mother, Lee triumphed over the Carolina red clay with her well-designed gardens and flourishing plants, most notably her butterfly garden, her hydrangeas, and her day lilies. Cuttings from Lee’s garden can be found in the yards of friends and family across the state.
Lee the Creative
Lee also inherited Bertha’s flair for the dramatic, as seen in their colorful outfits and outgoing personalities. An accomplished public speaker, Lee dazzled audiences across the country through her work and across South Carolina for Toastmasters competitions.
Lee was a prolific writer who devoted time each day to journaling. In 2000, she self-published the first edition of Muddling Through. During the last few months of her life, Lee was working on the book The Gifts of Brain Cancer.