Rachel Lee Memorial Fund

Rachel Lee, 10, died of a brain tumor Saturday, less than a year after her diagnosis last September.Family members say she never once complained.“She was the happiest person I think I’ve seen in a long time,” Leslie Lee, Rachel’s mother, said. “She never asked ‘Why me?’ She did everything that was asked of her. She had the biggest zest for life. That’s why it’s so strange that she was taken.” Rachel Lee, an outgoing fourth-grader at John R. Briggs Elementary School, will be memorialized today at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Church, 49 Woodland St., in Fitchburg. Leslie Lee said “anything and everything” made her daughter happy.“Looking at birds, coloring at the kitchen table, or any time someone thought of a place to go, I’d think, ‘Oh, Rachel would love that,'” she said. “When she was 2, when we’d take her to visit her grandparents, she’d actually thank us for letting her visit them.” Rachel’s father, David Lee, said his daughter loved climbing trees.“There was something about climbing,” he said. “I used to coach her in soccer, and I’d turn around during practice and wouldn’t see her. She’d be up in a tree.”David Lee admitted his daughter’s climbing made he and his wife nervous, but it was clear that it made her happy.Art, however, was Rachel’s real passion, David Lee said.“When she was 4, she’d draw full figures and scenes, and we didn’t realize then how good it was,” he said.The family has decided to start a fund in Rachel’s name to benefit art programs at Briggs.“We don’t know how the money will be used yet — it’s in the early stages,” Leslie Lee said. “But she loved art so much, and we felt it was a great way to remember her.” Rachel Lee’s family is asking that donations be made in lieu of flowers to the Rachel Lee Memorial Fund, care of Athol Savings Bank, 52 Main St., in Ashburnham.Nancy Lee said she is thankful for the time she got to spend with Rachel.“She was just the most precious, wonderful granddaughter you can have,” she said. “We were so fortunate to have her for 10 years.”Chet Goguen, Rachel’s maternal grandfather, called Rachel “an exceptional child.”“There are so many things to say,” Goguen said. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”The Lees said their other children — Jacob, 13, Jessica, 6, and Rebecca, 4 — have struggled with the loss.“Jessica misses her every day,” David Lee said. “I don’t know if Jacob knows how he’s going to handle it yet. He and (Rachel) were really good friends.”Added Leslie Lee, “Our youngest, Rebecca, said to ask the angels to bring her back.”Leslie Lee said the family built a Web site where friends and classmates could send notes of support during Rachel’s illness.“We got a letter today through the Web site from a student who apparently was also sick, and he said he and Rachel used to talk about the medications they were taking, and it always cheered him up,” Leslie Lee said. “We didn’t even know about that.” Rachel’s mother enjoyed the afternoons she spent with her daughter during her illness, reading joke books on the family’s front porch.“She loved to laugh,” Leslie Lee said.Briggs Elementary held an open forum for classmates Tuesday, offering students the chance to discuss the tragedy.David Lee said some of her daughter’s art will be on display at her memorial.“(Art is) what she loved more than anything,” he said.Leslie Lee said her daughter handled adversity “better than many adults.”“She did better than I would have done,” she said. “There were times you thought, even though the odds weren’t in her favor, given her spirit, who she was, how strong she was, that there’d be a miracle.”