Lee H. Etheridge

Lee Howard Etheridge, of Cleveland, Texas, entered into rest on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 75. He was born on Tuesday, March 22, 1949, in Houston, Texas, to Lee Owen Etheridge and Rosa Etheridge, both of whom have preceded him in death.  Lee was also preceded in death by his brothers, Leonard James Etheridge and Chris Steven Etheridge.

Lee Howard Etheridge was Big Uncle Lee to not only his family but to so many friends and their children throughout a lot of years. He called himself a “scarecrow”, “ jack o lantern”, and  “a hot mess”. Big Uncle Lee was a one of a kind. The most intelligent person you could have ever met. He loved baseball more than anyone you will ever know in a lifetime. You could get his goose talking bad about a baseball game and he would get your goose right back in so many different ways. Big Uncle Lee loved loading up the kids and taking them to the Houston Astros games. He always told the kids there are the $5.00 cheap seats. If he didn’t have the kids watching baseball on TV then we listened to the game on the radio. Big Uncle Lee was a big joker and loved, absolutely loved to stir the pot. He taught Chad so many things, walk on stilts, algebra I the first grade (of course he didn’t quite understand it but he knew it by the sixth grade), how to catch a baseball and bat, and how important reading was to gain a lot of knowledge. He taught Lee Owen how to play baseball, how to build cites with legos, how to ride a bicycle at 4 years old and so many more things. Big Uncle Lee taught him about how friends come and go but true friends are forever. When it came to Samantha, she was a girl. He would say “I don’t know what to do with a little girl”.So he taught her how to play baseball. He taught her how to catch a ball and bat. He played legos with her and barbies.

Big Uncle Lee loved stopping by Michelle and Ron’s to hang out with Trey and Nathan. He would get them stirred up wresting around bedtime. He was always ready for a Nerf gun fight. Big Uncle Lee made it to almost all of Chad, Lee Owen, Samantha, Trey and Nathan’s little league games and practices. He made a lot of Trey and Nathan’s high school baseball games as they grew. He could eat more sunflower seeds than any one person will ever eat, even got a trip to the clink for some seeds. His Eeyore voice will forever be missed. Rest in Peace Big Uncle Lee.

Left to cherish his memory are his two nephews, Chad Wayne Etheridge and fiancée Mehwish Martin, and Lee Owen Etheridge; niece, Samantha Rose Etheridge; four great-nieces, Chloe Etheridge, Kenadee Loving, Kobee Rodriguez, and Jordan Rodriguez; great-nephew, Hunter Layne Etheridge; along with numerous other loving cousins, family and a host treasured friends.

A memorial service for Big Uncle Lee will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 11:00 am at Neal Funeral Home.

All services were handled under the trusted care of Neal Funeral Home.