Lee LeFaive Marquardt was born in 1942 in Jackson, Michigan. During World War II, Lee’s parents worked in factories to support their seven children. Afterwards, they opened Beacon Sandwich Shop, where Lee was put to work washing dishes and peeling potatoes. In 1960, she graduated with honors from Jackson High School and moved to Cincinnati, where she found work as a bookkeeper and bought her first car, a black 1961 Corvair Monza with red interior.

After a few years of independence, Lee got homesick and moved back to Jackson. Working at a savings and loan, she met her husband, got married, and the couple soon had three kids. Lee’s life seemed pretty set. Then, in 1988, her son Chuck came home from college at Michigan State and told his parents he was gay. It was all Lee needed to reveal that she was lesbian. With no kids left at home, Lee left her husband and moved to East Lansing, got involved with the local PFLAG chapter, and basically rebooted her life.

Finding work after decades at home wasn’t easy, but eventually Lee got a job with Lesbian Connection, a mostly user-generated magazine started in 1974 by the Michigan lesbian-feminist collective Ambitious Amazons. But Lee was adventuresome and anxious to earn more money, so she and another divorcee teamed up, moved to Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and set up their own trucking company delivering auto parts all over America.

Six years later, Lee’s trucking partner retired, and Lee made her way west to be near Chuck. After a spell in Visalia, California, Lee finally came to rest in Los Angeles where she lives today at Triangle Square, one of America’s first affordable housing complexes for LGBTQ seniors. Chuck and his husband John live just a couple of miles away, which Lee loves – but she also loves getting out and having new adventures on her own, and going on social media to rail against the White House’s current occupant.

Lee was a delight to interview, and it was also a delight to welcome her, along with Chuck and John, at OUTWORDS’ first official fundraiser in November 2017. Lee’s story is a rags-to-riches story, not about money, but about integrity and self-understanding. As the English novelist George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”

Lee LeFaive Marquardt was born in 1942 in Jackson, Michigan. During World War II, Lee’s parents worked in factories to support their seven children. Afterwards, they opened Beacon Sandwich Shop, where Lee was put to work washing dishes and peeling potatoes. In 1960, she graduated with honors from Jackson High School and moved to Cincinnati, where she found work as a bookkeeper and bought her first car, a black 1961 Corvair Monza with red interior.

After a few years of independence, Lee got homesick and moved back to Jackson. Working at a savings and loan, she met her husband, got married, and the couple soon had three kids. Lee’s life seemed pretty set. Then, in 1988, her son Chuck came home from college at Michigan State and told his parents he was gay. It was all Lee needed to reveal that she was lesbian. With no kids left at home, Lee left her husband and moved to East Lansing, got involved with the local PFLAG chapter, and basically rebooted her life.

Finding work after decades at home wasn’t easy, but eventually Lee got a job with Lesbian Connection, a mostly user-generated magazine started in 1974 by the Michigan lesbian-feminist collective Ambitious Amazons. But Lee was adventuresome and anxious to earn more money, so she and another divorcee teamed up, moved to Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and set up their own trucking company delivering auto parts all over America.

Six years later, Lee’s trucking partner retired, and Lee made her way west to be near Chuck. After a spell in Visalia, California, Lee finally came to rest in Los Angeles where she lives today at Triangle Square, one of America’s first affordable housing complexes for LGBTQ seniors. Chuck and his husband John live just a couple of miles away, which Lee loves – but she also loves getting out and having new adventures on her own, and keeping up with political events on social media.

Lee was a delight to interview, and it was also a delight to welcome her, along with Chuck and John, at OUTWORDS’ first official fundraiser in November 2017. Lee’s story is a rags-to-riches story, not about money, but about integrity and self-understanding. As the English novelist George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”