John Lee

John Scott Lee, age 69, of Menahga, Minnesota passed away unexpectedly on May 6, 2026, at Essentia Health Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota.

John Lee was born on March 20, 1957, to Donald and Mavis Lee in Alexandria, Minnesota before moving to Coon Rapids, Minnesota where John spent a majority of his life. He attended and graduated from Coon Rapids High School and received his mechanical engineering degree from Anoka Technical College in 1977.

John married his sweetheart, Robin Lynn Krantz, on July 23, 1977, in Andover, Minnesota. Their marriage was blessed with four sons: Joel, Neal, Jesse, and Aaron. The couple raised their family in Coon Rapids, Minnesota and eventually found a slice of heaven on the Crow Wing River in Menahga, Minnesota to build their dreams. In 2021, John and Robin made “The River” their permanent home after nearly two decades of John’s meticulous design, construction, and steady stewardship of the land. 

A gifted mechanical engineer, John held many patents and excelled in systems thinking across industries working for PAR Systems, Rimage, Foth, General Dynamics, Bosch, and Pentair during his career. He was a true outdoorsman enjoying hunting, bicycling, motorcycling, traveling, cooking, reading, and countless weekends spent with family and friends.

From packing up the truck and trailer for each river float to carving forest trails with intention, John lived a life in service of others and his family was most important to him. Some people leave behind memories. John leaves behind entire traditions quietly built with care. He lived with deep curiosity, generosity, and faithfulness.

John is preceded in death by his parents Donald and Mavis Lee. Please join us in celebrating John’s life at Eastside Christian Church in Park Rapids, Minnesota on Sunday, June 7, 2026 with a service at 3pm and luncheon to follow. No need for formal attire as John never liked dressing up much anyway.

In lieu of flowers and to honor his legacy, a memorial fund has been established for Camp Nathanael in Hinckley, Minnesota, a rustic, Christian boys camp where John first accepted the Lord and gained his love of carpetball. To donate to Camp Nathanael: Go to campnathanael.com There are donate tabs on the website. When you are in the donate tab there is a place to put a name for In Memory of a person. Or Mail a check and be sure to mention it is to go toward the John Lee Memorial donations. Mailing address: Camp Nathanael PO Box 3987 Minneapolis, MN 55403.

Deeply loved, John’s passing will be mourned by his wife of 48 years Robin, his sons: Joel (Emily), Neal (Jill), Jesse (Megan), and Aaron (Kate); 11 grandchildren; siblings: Linda (Tom) Picazio, Nancy (Dale) Mathis, Jeannie (Mark) Gross, Rick (Joan) Krantz, and Douglas (Kim) Krantz; father and mother-in-law: Galen and Verna Krantz; many other relatives and a host of friends.