Helen C. Lee, a retired social worker who enjoyed travel, died May 23 from congestive heart failure at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium.

She was 100.

Mrs. Lee died two weeks before she would have celebrated her 101st birthday, family members said.

The daughter of Marshall Cole, an electrician, and Lillie Cole, a housekeeper, the former Helen Cole was born and raised in Anderson, S.C.

In 1931, she came to the old Henryton State Hospital in Marriottsville, a segregated sanatorium for African-Americans suffering from tuberculosis, to attend the nursing school on its grounds.

While completing her nursing training at Henryton, she met Dr. C. Dudley Lee, who also worked there. They married in 1935.

She completed her secondary education at a boarding school in Baltimore, family members said.

When her two eldest children were in high school and she had a toddler at home, Mrs. Lee entered what is now Morgan State University and in 1957 earned a bachelor's degree in social work. Three years later, she earned a master's degree in social work from Howard University.

For nearly 30 years, she worked as a social worker for the city social services and education departments, the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and at the Rosewood Center in Owings Mills.

The longtime Hanlon Park resident retired in 1980.

She was a longtime active member of All Saints Roman Catholic Church, where she participated in service and social organizations. She was also a golden and life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, active in its Epsilon Omega graduate chapter. She was also a member of the Philomathians and the Northeasterners.

Mrs. Lee was an accomplished needleworker and enjoyed traveling to the Holy Land, Japan and the Caribbean islands.

Her husband died in 1979.

Family members said that in becoming a centenarian, Mrs. Lee did not follow any particular regime, and when asked her philosophy of life, she'd reply: “To have good friends you must be a good friend. I have been blessed to have many good friends and always try to be a good friend. So far, it's working.”

“She was very spiritual and an optimist and had a gentle outlook on life,” said her daughter, Harriette Lee Bannister of San Diego.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at her church, New All Saints Church, 4408 Liberty Heights Ave.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by a son, Dr. C. Dudley Lee Jr. of Poway, Calif.; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. She had two other daughters: Gwendolyn Lee died in 1943 and Helen Ruth Johnson died in 1992.

— Frederick N. Rasmussen