WHO’S NEW: Tammy and David Lee

12/09/2019

Who’s New: Tammy and David Lee

We are often separated from childhood friends as we graduate from high school and move on to college, jobs, or perhaps military service. But Virginia Beach resident David Lee kept in touch with his long-time friend Wayne Murden. As adults, they both settled down in their Virginia Beach hometown and regularly met to keep up with the latest developments in each other’s lives. So, when Wayne and his wife Connie started talking about retiring to North Carolina, it piqued David and Tammy’s curiosity about what life along the Albemarle Sound was all about.

Actually, David and Tammy had always planned to retire to Florida. Tammy’s aunt lived there, and the Lees spent many happy vacations enjoying her hospitality and her community’s amenities. Their plan was to get serious about finding a place in Florida about one year out from retirement.

And then Wayne called with an invitation to come for a visit. With retirement still about five years away, Tammy and David decided to come and see for themselves what Wayne was so enthusiastic about. It didn’t take long for them to appreciate our community’s peaceful quiet and the beauty of the evening sunsets. A home on Riverwood Court seemed to be just right for them. Tammy could continue to work from home and David’s commute back and forth to Virginia’s Tidewater Community College would take only a little more than an hour.

The Lees have lived here now for almost a year. Tammy works at home for Pearson, an educational publishing and assessment service to schools, students, and corporations. A Pearson employee for twenty years, Tammy is currently devoting her time to the testing arm of the corporation, designing a pretest for student teachers. She has also served as a scoring specialist, helping with the scoring of state and national educational assessments called standards of learning. Also an avid crafter, Tammy has one room in their home designated as her
craft room, and had it painted her favorite color of purple. Here she works her creative magic with fabric, paper, and wood. Many of her creations can be purchased online at Etsy, and you will be able to see and purchase her crafts firsthand at the “Last Minute Santa Craft Sale” on December 7 at our Community Center.

David, employed at Tidewater Community College, is a Honda and Acura factory training master tech. At Tidewater, David runs a competency-based training program for the techs who will be repairing our Honda and Acura vehicles in the near future. David explained that the mechanic who knew all about the mechanical functioning of a car is now being replaced by techs who must know electricity, fluid dynamics, chassis dynamics, aerodynamics, and geometry. Because Hondas and Acuras have an aver-age of four computer networks that help to operate each vehicle, the techs must be information technology specialists, too.

A retired semi-pro race car driver, David raced a variety of cars for 42 years at raceways such as Virginia International Raceway in Danville, Virginia, and Summit Point outside D.C. When Honda gave Tidewater a Honda S2000 and asked David and his students to build a race car, it was a dream come true. But motorcycles also occupy a soft spot in David’s heart, as he has a fleet of seven, some of which are “runners” and others are projects. In the future David would love to open a shop/workshop where fellow riders could come together to work on their bikes.

Tammy and David both enjoy kayaking and are interested in learning more about the OYC. Cooking, traveling, and the love of all kinds of games keep them busy in their spare time. They are interested in trying their luck at Trivia Night here at the Clubhouse. Any-one need two more for their foursome?

When you get a chance to meet the Lees, be sure to ask Tammy about her stunning seashell clock creation and David about the Honda N600 that he is converting to an electric car. And be sure to welcome them “home”!