Oprah Winfrey’s mother, Vernita Lee, dies at 83
Published 4:00 pm Sunday, November 25, 2018
- This image released by Harpo Inc. shows, Oprah Winfrey, right, with her half-sister Patricia Amanda Faye Lee, left, and their mother Vermita Lee. A Winfrey spokeswoman issued a statement, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, saying Vermita Lee died at her Milwaukee home on Nov. 22. She was 83. (George Burns/Harpo Inc. via AP)
MILWAUKEE (AP) Oprah Winfrey’s mother, Vernita Lee, has died at the age of 83.
A Winfrey spokeswoman on Monday issued a statement saying Lee died at her Milwaukee home on Nov. 22. The spokeswoman says private funeral services were held. No other details were provided.
Lee was a teenager when she gave birth to Winfrey in Mississippi in 1954. They moved to Milwaukee when Winfrey was 6-years-old.
Lee was featured getting a makeover on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 1990.
Lee is also survived by another daughter, Patricia Amanda, and four grandchildren. She was predeceased by a son, Jeffrey, and by a daughter, Patricia.
