Lillian "Lee" Donaldson Kallas - Obituary

illian D. Kallas (born Lillian Gertrude Donaldson), better known to friends and family as "Lee", was born on January 12, 1925 in Washington, D. C., the daughter of George E. Donaldson and Mary G. Donaldson and the younger sister of Mabel Carlene Donaldson. She grew up in the Tenleytown section of Washington, where her family had lived for many generations. As a young woman she made her own clothes, which was not unusual for the time, but she would creatively mix features from different patterns, so that the result was uniquely hers. She was also fond of duckpin bowling, a hobby that lasted into adulthood. Around the time of her graduation from Woodrow Wilson High School in Tenleytown she took a job with the Federal Government, first with the State Department but then for the Department of the Navy, where she worked for about twenty years. Lee was also an avid ballroom dancer. It was through their shared interest in dancing that she first met William Kallas, whom she married in 1960. After the birth of her second child, Lee resigned from her government job in order to give her full attention to being a wife, mother, and homemaker. She and her husband William eventually bought a home in Laurel, Maryland, where they lived for more than forty years. Lee lived her final days as a resident at the Country Meadows assisted living facility in Frederick, MD. Lee is survived by her husband of over 56 years, William Thomas Kallas Jr., two children - Donald John Schuirmann (Linda McGivern) and Terry Leigh Severson (Chris), and three grandchildren - Mary Morgana Schuirmann, Kayla Brooke Severson, and Leah Paige Severson. Relatives and friends are invited to Lee's Celebration of Life at the GEORGE P. KALAS FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 6160 Oxon Hill Rd., Oxon Hill, MD on Monday, June 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. where services will be held on Tuesday, June 28 at 12 noon. Interment Columbia Gardens Cemetery.