Portrait of Stan Ronald Lee. IMB Photo

Stan Ronald Lee, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Rwanda, died Oct. 5, 2024. He was 75.  

Stan was born July 6, 1949, in Greenville, South Carolina, to the late Stan Lee, Jr., and Harlee Martin Lee. He attended Clemson University and received the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from University of Georgia, Athens, and attended Southwestern Theological Baptist Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. 

During a week-long revival service when he was 13 years old, Stan came to faith in Christ. He met Marlene Long, who became his wife in 1971, at his local church. After high school, Stan entered the pre veterinary program at Clemson before being accepted to the veterinary program at University of Georgia. Stan and Marlene moved to Commerce, Georgia, where she worked as a music director for a local church and Stan worked part-time as the youth director and went to school.  

During their time in Commerce, Stan began to sense a calling to full-time ministry. While seeking missionary appointment Stan wrote, “It was very strange to me because I knew without a doubt that God had called me to be a veterinarian. I thought I must be mistaken … In the spring before my graduation, I took a group of [Royal Ambassador] boys to a … missions fair. There I learned that the Foreign Mission Board was appointing veterinarians to the field, and that there were urgent requests in two countries. God began dealing with me, and I committed my life to foreign missions. I began to see how God could use both my veterinary skills and my desire to teach and share Christ in full-time Christian service. Now the call to full-time service didn’t seem so silly to me, in fact it seemed as though it was the only thing I could do.” 

But Marlene had not yet experienced the same call. They moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where she began to work on her Masters. Stan believed perhaps he had misunderstood God’s call and dropped the idea of serving in missions. He purchased a veterinary clinic and continued to be active in his local church. Stan wrote, “I was progressing in my work and was considered an outstanding layman in my church, but there was definitely something missing.” When he had the opportunity to go into partnership with another veterinarian, Stan couldn’t shake the feeling that God wanted him to do something more.  

During a Foreign Missions Day at his church, tears flowed down Stan’s face as he felt his call to missions reawakened. Marlene was sitting in front of him. When the invitation was given, she turned all the way around and smiled at Stan. He wrote, “There was no need for discussion for we were of one mind and spirit.” 

In 1978, the International Mission Board appointed Stan and Marlene missionaries to Rwanda where Stan served as a veterinarian. They served for 25 years with the IMB. 

He is survived by Marlene, his wife of 53 years. 

There is no known information about services at this time.