Richard Kenneth Lee

Lee—Richard Kenneth Lee, 69, on August 5, 2018, at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich., of complications from a fall. Richard was born on January 19, 1949, in Greenville, Mich., to Dorothy Primrose Morgan and Kenneth Lee. He was raised with his mother’s Quaker values (though not in a Quaker meeting) and grew up aware of Spirit, the possibility of healing prayer, and that of God in everyone. When he was a boy, he and his sister attempted to heal injured animals whenever they found them. His English maternal grandmother, Florence Rose Morgan, a Quaker healer whom he visited several times in his late teens and early 20s, introduced him to Quaker meeting for worship for healing and instructed him in healing prayer and kenning (spiritual knowing), following early Friends traditions.

In between visits to England, he attended Michigan State University (MSU), receiving a bachelor’s in history and education in 1971 and a master’s in European history in 1980. In the early 1980s he began attending Red Cedar Meeting in Lansing, Mich. He recorded his membership in 1986; served on the Membership and Outreach, Worship and Pastoral Care, and Nominating Committees; and taught Quakerism, Quaker history, and worship etiquette to children and adults. Strongly led to the study and teaching of healing prayer, in the mid‐1980s he began holding occasional meetings for worship for healing in his home and teaching healing prayer in a workshop at the Lake Erie Yearly Meeting (LEYM) sessions.

Completing the coursework for a doctorate in British history, he began work in MSU’s Office of Supportive Services as an academic guidance counselor in 1984, counseling first-generation students from a variety of backgrounds and teaching study skills and conflict resolution. Active in MSU’s LGBTQ community, he was part of the Mennonite Fellowship and represented the Religious Society of Friends in MSU’s Religious Advisors Association.

In the early 1990s, he again visited England, where he interviewed elderly Friends who had been active in the tradition of worship for healing. He wrote articles on healing in Towards Wholeness, Friends Journal, and Quaker Life; joined Friends Fellowship of Healing and collected their published materials; in 1994 established a meeting for worship for healing in his home under the care of Red Cedar Meeting; and attended the Britain Yearly Meeting 1995 session. For Friends General Conference (FGC) Gatherings, he taught workshops on meeting for worship for healing for more than 27 years; co-coordinated the Men’s Center for six years; and served on the Gathering Workshop Subcommittee in 1998 and 1999. The Gathering staff much appreciated the packages of knick-knacks, toys, and chocolate that he sent to them for encouragement in late spring when their work became intense.

In addition to his work on healing prayer for LEYM, he served on Nominating, Peace Education, and Earth Care Committees; represented LEYM to Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); and attended the FWCC Triennial in July 2000. For American Friends Service Committee, he served on the Peace Education Committee, on the Regional Executive Nominating Committee, and as a member of the Corporation.

He retired from MSU in 2013. Two pictures that hung in his living room, where meeting for worship for healing took place, speak of his faith: The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks, and _The Presence in the Midst _by J. Doyle Penrose. Red Cedar Meeting and a much wider circle of family, former students, and friends will miss Richard.