SACRAMENTO, Calif. — May Lee was a superstar for the state of California.
What made her a star is that she worked for the state since World War II was raging. We’re sad to report that she passed away at the end of May at the age of 102, about a month short of her 103rd birthday.
Lee started with the Department of Finance as an accountant in 1943 and then moved to the Department of General Services when it was created in 1963.
What was most aMAYzing about Lee is that when she decided to retire in 1990, that wasn’t the end of her working for the state. She decided to keep coming in as a retired annuitant.
In 2018 I asked May for her perspective on such a long run.
"I enjoy all these years and I still enjoy coming to work. I come four days a week and drive to work every morning and I enjoy people," Lee said.
A co-worker at the time, Ann Marie Santana, said Lee is the department's go-to person for any questions about data and numbers.
“When we don’t know how to solve an issue, we go to May. She basically finds lost money from 40 years ago," Santana said.
May kept working for the state until last year, her mind, still razor sharp.
May passed away on May 26, a little after 3 p.m. to be precise, and we wanted to be precise because that’s how Lee was.
Numbers are always important and this number will likely never be broken. May Lee worked for the State of California for 79 years.
Thank you, May, for making sure the numbers were always balanced.
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