Wanda Lee Reimers

Wanda Lee (Turner) Reimers, or Lee, as she was known to all who knew and loved her after her brave move from the small town of Harrisville, WV to the big city of Cleveland, Ohio in 1948 lived a full life of love and family.

Lee was born in Weirton, WV to Clara Clondell Wilson and Forrest Elliot Turner on November 23, 1926. Lee’s family endured hard times during the depression, and she grew up in Harrisville at her grandmother’s boarding house as well as in Akron, Ohio, with her mother and step-father, Benjamin Franklin Waller.

Lee’s greatest joy, other than her husband and family, was singing. With her three best high school friends, she sang in the West Virginia All-State Chorus representing Harrisville High School.

Lee’s mother, Clara, passed away when Lee was 17. After graduating from high school, Lee did not have a family to lean on, so she was enrolled as a nurse cadet in Parkersburg, WV. After attending nursing school for a little more than a year, she left nursing and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to join her brother, Pete (Lowell) Wilson.

Lee thrived in Cleveland, quickly making friends, finding a room to rent and a job working for Sears, Roebuck and Company in the cosmetics department.

Lee met her husband, Chuck (Charles V. Reimers), on a blind date after a softball game. Lee and Chuck dated around softball games and dinners with Chuck’s family. Lee and Chuck were married on September 23, 1950, in a civil ceremony with a family reception at Chuck’s parents’ home. Lee and Chuck enjoyed 65 years of marriage.

Lee and Chuck had two children: Linda and Craig. The family moved from a small apartment on Hayden Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio to a newly built home in Willoughby, Ohio in 1956. This home was the first and only home Lee had ever owned, and Chuck worked hard to provide this for her.

Lee loved talking with people and getting to know them. She knew her neighbors, postman, pharmacist, doctors and workers in every store she visited. Lee’s friendly nature led her to have several retail jobs over the years where she made more friends and acquaintances.

Lee loved singing, big band music, reading and learning. Lee was the only 97-year-old using a Kindle Fire to read books and an Amazon Echo Dot to listen to music to fill her days. Science and technology fascinated

Lee and she loved viewing webcams to see bald eagle nests, brown bears, the Aurora Borealis and the world.

Lee passed away on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at the Village of Marymount. She will always be remembered for her love of family, sense of humor, kindness and giving heart.

Lee is survived by her children, Linda Kordes and Craig (Toni) Reimers; grandchildren, Jodi (Don) Clugh, Matthew Kordes and Charles Kordes; great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles V. Reimers; her mother, Clara Clondell Wilson; brother, Lowell M. “Pete” Wilson and her son-in-law, Allen L. Kordes.

The family will receive friends from 4-7 PM On Thursday, December 21, 2023 at Davis-Babcock Funeral Home, 4154 Clark Avenue, Willoughby, where funeral services will be held at 11 AM on Friday, December 22, 2023. Final resting place will be in Western Reserve Memorial Gardens, Chester Township.

In lieu of flowers, please share your gift in memory of Lee to the Village of Marymount, 5200 Marymount Village Drive, Garfield Heights, OH 44125 or Crossroads Hospice, 9775 Rockside Road, Suite 270, Valley View, OH 44125.