Obituary for Lee Bernhard Sundsted

It is with deep sorrow that we announce that Lee Bernhard Sundsted, age 92 of Brasstown, passed away peacefully on Monday, February 26th, 2024.Lee was born in Sayre, Pennsylvania on April 23rd, 1931, to the late Orvie and Alice Sundsted who emigrated from Finland.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his sister Carolyn Haag and his brother Jimmy Sundsted.

He is survived by his wife, Julie Sundsted; sister, Patty Huttunen; sons Erik Sundsted (Wendy) and Michael Sundsted (Lori) and daughter, Allison Lee Ashton (Sundsted); and grandchildren, Tyler, and Annika Sundsted (Erik); Collin Sundsted (Michael) and Ayden, Gibson and Finnley Ashton (Allison).

Lee grew up on a farm outside of Sayre with strong Finnish roots which formed the basis of his upbringing and approach to life. Lee was kind, genuine, trustworthy and reliable. He truly appreciated everyone around him and was known as someone who liked to listen. He and his family moved to Spencer, New York from Sayre where he attended Spencer Central High School, graduating with honors as salutatorian. He loved to play sports, particularly basketball and baseball. In high school, he was captain of the basketball team and in a free throw competition, sunk 48 out of 50 shots to win the contest. Lee was also the captain of his high school baseball team playing second base. After high school he attended Syracuse University receiving his liberal arts degree in English. He was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. After Syracuse, Lee entered into the United States Army and served as Corporal in the 9th Infantry Division as a Radio Communications operator stationed in England and his most significant duty assignment was the 1624th HQ Battery, 39th AAA Battalion. Lee was discharged honorably and received the Good Conduct Medal and National Defense Service Medal for his service. After his service to the United States Army he returned to Spencer, New York to teach high school English at his alma mater and even taught his sister, Patty.

He also attended Cornell University working toward his graduate degree and then moved to southern California where he completed his master’s in business administration (MBA) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). After UCLA, Lee worked in various corporate roles for Xerox, Martin Marietta, and TeleCo. With Julie, he founded a medical, chemical and plastics recruiting company based out of Atlanta, Georgia serving candidates and corporations for over 50 years. They attended church at McEver Road United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Georgia. In 2001, Lee and Julie moved to the Brasstown area to enjoy the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and attended church at First United Methodist Church of Hayesville, North Carolina. At First United Methodist Church Lee was baptized, accepted Jesus as his Savior, and became a member of the Methodist church. In 2023, he and Julie began attending Coosa Methodist Church. He served in all his church communities as well as in the Clay County Sheriff’s Auxiliary and in the George Lee American Legion Post 532 in Hayesville, as well as the Hayesville Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).Lee loved to be on the water and in the sun, sailing and boating on Lakes Ontario, Cayuga, and Lanier.

He loved every type of sports, Syracuse University basketball, soccer, and University of Georgia football, as well as Atlanta Braves baseball. He had a calming presence, an amazing sense of humor, loved serving his community and spending time with his family and friends. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later time and the family will reach out to friends and family when the date and time are set.

You may send tributes of Lee to the family at www.townson-rose.com
You may send tributes to the family at www.townson-rose.com