He was a two-term Utah governor and three-term Salt Lake mayor.
He may be remembered in history books as Utah's feistiest and most fearless statesman, always steering straight into controversy.But on the day he was laid to rest next to his beloved wife, Margaret, he was remembered by those who loved him as a husband, father and grandfather.
The intimate funeral of J. Bracken Lee Saturday reflected the conventional wisdom that who we are lingers in the hearts of others long after what we did has faded into the past.
The last third of his life, the private years after his retirement from politics, burnished his fundamental character of honesty, kindness and strength, said grand-daughter Ann Ostler.
"He often looked literally radiant to us as we visited him in the last few years," she recalled.
When Margaret Lee fell ill in the late '80s, Lee's renowned passion for her distilled into lingering tenderness as he cared for her. "He never ceased mourning her" after her death seven years ago, Ostler said.
Former gubernatorial aide Harold Simpson and political pundit Desmond Barker each spoke of Lee's controversial and influential political career, tracking his rise from the mayor of Price, through his years in the governor's mansion to his retirement from Salt Lake City's helm at the age of 73.
But it was the homey reminiscences of Ostler and son Richard Lee that tinged the statesman's memory with a final grandeur.
His idealism, his will, his gift of story and his delight in his grand-children.
The politician and the family man were sometimes one. Sons Richard and James often wrangled with their father over the political issues dear to his heart: Runaway federal government and the evil of the income tax, Richard Lee recalled.
Even the toddlers weren't spared his insights. "There were times when a grandchild watched him with big eyes, wondering exactly how he was responsible for income tax and overpaid government workers," Ostler said.
But while Utah history buffs will remember his fight with educators that cost him a third term as governor, the family delights in the tales of his private antics: Pranks played on friends that grow more delicious with the retelling, his determined courtship of Margaret, their unexpected elopement and a honeymoon night spent in jail.
Lee leaves behind five children, 19 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren who carry his name with pride, richer for his legacy of honesty and energy, Richard Lee concluded moments before his father's body was carried from the chapel.
The man his family memorialized during the two-hour funeral Saturday would likely have cherished that private legacy more than the public honor reflected in the long row of police cars and saluting officers waiting outside to escort the casket.
The funeral was held at the Evans & Early Mortuary, 574 E. 100 South. Lee was interred at the Mount Olivet Cemetery.