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The Passing of Mrs. Sadye Gee

Posted by Galen Ollison on December 17, 2009 at 3:02am in General

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Sadye Dupree Gee

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1 Gee, Mrs. Sadye Dupree 88, was born October 13, l92l in Dallas, Texas to the parentage of Alfred William Dupree, Sr. and Sadye Watson Dupree. Both parents and both brothers, Alfred William Dupree, Jr. and Judge Henry Dupree, III preceded her in death. She was reared in a Christian home and was christened at an early age in the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (located on Leonard Street in Old North Dallas). She became a kindergarten dropout and enrolled in the B. F. Darrell Elementary Public School. She completed her high school work at the Booker T. Washington High School (only high school for Black Americans in the entire Dallas Metroplex at that time). Mrs. Gee attended Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College of Texas. In 1942, the United States was at war with Japan. She answered the call to duty for her country and was sent to Washington, D. C. where she spent some time working in the Signal Corp at the Pentagon as a senior clerk typist until her father's illness caused her to return to Texas. She returned to Prairie View College and graduated. Upon graduation, she united in Holy Matrimony with her campus "ole pardner" Cleophus C. Gee who spent the rest of his life for fifty-five years and passed away October 27, 1999 twelve days before their 56th anniversary. To this union one child was born Cleoletta Gee. Among the many blessing and joys of life, was when they became grandparents. Their grandson, Clayton Claridy was the son that they always wanted and never had. He was the blessed gift from GOD. Later, she was blessed with a great granddaughter, Claudia Claridy. Mrs. Gee served as a dedicated educator for 38 yean and retired from the K. B. Polk Elementary Magnet School in the Dallas Independent School District. After retirement from DISD, Dr. Harry Robinson Founder and Director of the prestigious African American Museum invited Mrs. Gee to serve as guest curator to work on the "Black Presence of Dallas" 1936 - 1986 program. This was an exciting opportunity to publish unsung heroes of Dallas. Shortly after becoming a resident of the Hamilton Park Community in 1957, she and her family united with the Hamilton Park United Methodist Church and became a devoted member, and most important, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She was a Charter member of Jack and Jill, an inactive, member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, devoted member of the Maria Morgan Branch Y.W.C.A. She joined the National AARP and organized the Hamilton Park Chapter #4264 - served as first president; was appointed Assistant State Director of Texas, was a member of the Hamilton Park Civic League and dubbed Community Historian, member of the Inter-Organizational Council, was a member of the Seniors of the Willie B. Johnson Recreation Senior Advisory Council. She is survived by her daughter, Cleoletta Gee Spann (Dallas); grandson, Clayton Claridy (Dallas); great granddaughter, Claudia Claridy (Dallas); nephew, Alfred W. Dupree, Jr., and wife, Ann (Dallas); grand nephew, Trevor Dupree (Dallas); sister-in-law, Myrtle Dupree (Dallas), nieces, Dianna Dupree Bryson and husband, Randy Bryson (Waco), Deralynn Dupree (Dallas); special cousins, Lewis Rhone and Willene Rhone Watson (Dallas); a host of, relatives and friends. Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, December 17 at 11 am at Hamilton Park UMC - 11881 Schroeder Rd. - Dallas, TX 75243. To share tributes www.goldengatefuneralhome.com
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Published in Dallas Morning News on December 16, 2009 Print style="vertical-align: bottom" /> print

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  • Galen Ollison December 18, 2009 at 9:46am

    Hazel Salter-King shared this by email December 17th from Marye Spencer.

    This notice came from Marye Spencer.
    All of you don't know Ms. Gee but she was the woman who taught me that being black in America was being beautiful.
  • Mark W. Stephens December 18, 2009 at 4:28am
    Mrs. Gee was also a daily part of my young life at B.F. Darrell. I remember how correct she spoke and made you speak correctly in her presence. She will live on in the collective memories of all of us who were exposed to her wisdom and knowledge. Our prayers are with Cleoletta and the family. May God comfort their hearts and minds at this time of such great loss. Mark Stephens
  • Bonita Titus Alford December 18, 2009 at 1:51am
    Sadye May Magdalene Dupree Gee! She could say her name like nobody else could. To this day I can hear her telling us about the Dewey Decimal System of Classification. She made sure we could find our way around the library! She was a wonderful educator and mentor!
  • Vicki Carol Smith December 17, 2009 at 7:18pm
    Without a doubt, Sadye Mae Magdelena Dupree Gee was my favorite teacher at Darrell. And although all of our teachers were inspiring, no one stoked the desire to acquire knowledge as she did. She was the first person who said to me that the great queen of the Nile, Cleopatra, was a black woman. So many memories and lessons she taught. She gave me my first thesaurus as a 7th grade graduation gift.

    But I choose to remember her in this way......... I can still see and hear her, walking between the tables in the library with a looooong ruler, whacking the table with each step. " Oh, Oh, Oh, to Oh, Nien, Nien, General Works."

    Rest now, good and faithful servant. You did your job well.

    Vicki Smith
  • David Wilson December 17, 2009 at 1:24pm
    She was a great teacher. Ms. Sadye Mae Magdaline Dupree Gee , I loved saying her whole name.
  • Fred Walker December 17, 2009 at 5:21am
    MR AND MRS CLEOPHUS GEE PLAY A PART IN MY LIFE THAT I CHERISH TO THIS DAY.MRS GEE ,AS MY SCHOOL LIBRARIAN, REALIZE THAT I NEEDED A MALE PRESENT IN MY LIFE. SHE HAD MR GEE ,MENTOR ME, AS A BIG BROTHER. BIG BROTHERS OF AMERICA WOULD HAVE A CHRISTMAS PARTY EVERY YEAR AT THE YMCA. THEY WOULD GIVE ALL THE KIDS LITTLE TOYS. ONLY GOD KNEW WHAT THOSE TOYS MEANT TO ME. IT'S A BLESSING TO HAVE A GIVING HEART,AND THE GEE 'S WERE AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE , OF HELPING THE LESS FORTUNATE, BUT WHAT I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT ,MRS GEE, WAS THAT GOOD GRAMMER SHE USED. WHEN IT CAME TO SPEAKING SHE WAS IN THE SAME CLASS AS MR PATTON. MAY MR AND MRS GEE REST IN PEACE. THANKS FOR HELP SHAPING MY LIFE.
  • Galen Ollison December 17, 2009 at 3:15am
    Mrs. Gee was a part of our daily lives for four years at B.F. Darrell Elementary. Smooth and no-nonsense, she instilled in us special character traits as did all of our teachers of that era. Many of us were also classmates of her daughter Cleoletta. Let's keep in prayer Mrs. Gee's extensive loving family.
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