John Lee was born on November 16, 1934 in Pampa. He was the grandson of John and Edda Lee Haggard and the son of Mildred Bell. John Lee attended school in Miami and Pampa. He graduated from Kemper Military Institute, where he was a member of the golf and wrestling teams. He married his high school sweetheart, Anita Southard, on August 5, 1955 in Pampa, they celebrated 66 years of marriage and raised three children together. Anita preceded John Lee in death on October 7, 2021.
