Remembering Jackson County business man Jerry Lee

Long-time grocery store operator Jerry Lee has died.  Lee was a local icon in Jackson County. The long-time grocery store operator spent much of his life making long-term connections with the people of the Coast.

Lee has died at the age of 88 at his home on Monday. Lee was born in Foxworth, Mississippi and was a Marine Corps veteran who served for three years before returning home. Jerry Lee’s Store Manager Alice Douglas said, “There’s going to be a great void in Gautier in Jerry Lee’s with Mr. Lee gone. He’ll be greatly missed.”

After his stint in the Marines, Lee met and married his wife Polly in 1955 and the two decided to move to the Coast soon after.

In 1958, the couple founded Jerry Lee’s Grocery Store on Ingalls Avenue and eventually expanded by opening another location in Gautier called Jerry Lee’s #2. He then quickly opened up an additional store in Pascagoula called Publik Warehouse Foods in 1974. “Mr. Lee was a friend and whenever he saw you, he made you feel important.”

Human Resources and Office Manager Ronda DeForrest has been with the company for 42 years and she says Mr. Lee was a special soul. DeForrest says one thing that stood out the most about Lee was his generosity. Lee donated numerous times to different organizations along the Coast including schools, churches, charities, hospitals, and more.

Lee was also known to sponsor several little league sports teams as well. “Very generous. He was generous to those who he knew and those that he didn’t know. He was on the Port Authority for Pascagoula. He was a board member for merchant marine bank for several years.”

DeForrest says Lee was a phenomenal family man who looked to make connections with anyone he met. She says Lee was a man who one could go to for anything whether it was a quick chat or something personal. “He was kind of like my grandpa. I could go in there and I could joke with him if I wanted to and I knew when I needed to be serious. You know, he was just an all-around really good person. He was one-in-a-million.”

His visitation will be Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Pascagoula.