Angie Anderson was just 17 years old when she met the man who would become her husband, the father of her children, and the love of her life. She was serving punch at a friend's wedding, and one of the groomsmen was Stan Lee.
Angie and Stan struck up a conversation, one that would last for 40 blissful years. After their first encounter, Angie attended the University of Georgia, where Stan was completing veterinary school. Stan kept in touch, finding reasons to check on Angie while they were both in Athens.
"Since we had made that connection, he would call and say, 'Hey, it's supposed to snow; do you need some wood?' and was like 'Well, I don't have a fireplace, so...,'" Angie says with a smile.
The friendship continued. After graduation, Stan, a Stilson native, moved back to Bulloch County to start his career. He began working for his mentor, Dr. Steve Lee (no familial relation).
"We were just friends," Angie says. "Then he came back and started working at a practice here in town, and I took my dog to him, and then we started dating."
After a yearlong courtship, Angie and Stan got engaged. The couple married in July of 1984 and had their first child, Andy, three years later.
In the spring of 1987, Stan and Angie, along with the support and guidance of Angie's dad, Raybon Anderson, opened their own practice, Westside Veterinary Hospital.
"They had a great relationship," Angie says of the relationship between Dr. Steve Lee and Stan, "He just wanted to be on his own."
In 1991, the Lees had their second child, daughter Millie, followed by daughter Kittie four years later.
"He was really active in whatever the kids were doing," Angie remembers.
Stan served on the Board of Trustees for at Bulloch Academy, where his children went to school. He was also involved in his church and discipleship training, and made several lifelong friends in the process.
Stan was born to C.W., a farmer, and Irma, a teacher, in 1956. His parents instilled their strong work ethic in their sons. Stan and his brother, Chuck, grew up hanging tobacco, planting crops, taking care of farm animals.
"His mother was very kindhearted," Millie says.
"He loved his mom," Angie adds. "She taught school. She actually taught him in second grade, but he said 'she showed no mercy on me,' and spanked him at school, but she was a very sweet lady."
"My dad was a very hard worker," Kittie says. "He worked very hard to get where he got to in life."
One of Stan's gifts was mentorship. Soon after Stan's passing, Millie and Kittie assembled a binder of anecdotes from past employees, friends, family, and colleagues. They soon confirmed what they had suspected all along.
"He really mentored and grew people," Millie remarks. "And there were people that we didn't even realize how much he had done for them until this."
"There were things in that book that I didn't realize he had done," Angie says. "It's just interesting to see what a difference he did make. I wish he could have read this book."
He was a veterinarian who knew his patients by name, telling Angie when he recognized a client while they were out, "That's Fluffy's mom." A conscientious note-taker, Stan could always be found with a yellow legal pad nearby.
"Something I learned from him is you just always treat people like the best of the best and you don't judge people in any way," Millie recalls. "When those clients walk in the door, they should never be waiting. You should always take care of them; you should always speak to them. He just really cared about them having a good experience when they were there."
Kittie, who struggled with a learning disability growing up, credits her dad as a main supporter in her success.
"He was my advocate. I learned a lot watching him advocate for me and he would explain it to me," Kittie reflects. "A big part of why I became a counselor was to be a voice for those people who didn't have that voice at home. I learned how to advocate for my students."
The Lees' son, Andy, followed in his father's footsteps by attending the University of Georgia and earning his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. Stan did not show any favoritism to his child, requiring Andy to work at other veterinary practices before he would even consider bringing him onto the Westside staff. Andy was finally able to join his father's practice in the spring of 2020.
Several months before the wedding of his daughter, Kittie, Stan received his first cancer diagnosis.
"That's when everything started going haywire," Andy remembers, who took over his father's practice when his dad got sick.
"It was all found by accident," Angie recollected. "He had a tick bite."
One night, in the middle of the night, Stan woke up with chest pains. After an ambulance ride to the emergency room, the medical staff confirmed that Stan's heart was fine. He and Angie returned home and tried to rest since they had been up most of the night. Angie awoke to unsettling news.
"I wake up a few hours later and he said, 'The ER doctor that came on called me about an hour after we got home. He said the scan happened to pick up my pancreas, and there's a spot on it. We need to see someone, like, today."
Stan was very aggressive about treatment, making sure to do whatever the oncologist suggested. He underwent a Whipple procedure, which is a surgery performed to remove masses from the pancreas and surrounding areas. His chest still hurt, and Stan's doctor determined that he had fluid around his heart, which was caused by a tick bite. All of these events were instrumental in learning of Stan's cancer diagnosis, which may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
"We wouldn't have known," Angie says. "He had no symptoms, which you don't usually for pancreatic cancer."
The procedure went well, and tests confirmed that the cancer had not spread. Stan followed up with chemotherapy, which he finished in December of 2022. The family returned to life as usual. Stan, a chronic back pain sufferer, would complain from time to time about his back, but doctors could not find any cause. In August of 2024, the family received word that Stan's pancreatic cancer had spread to his spine.
"It was in an inoperable location," Andy says.
Stan started radiation soon after and completed six days before his pain was too great to allow him to continue.
"It went really fast; we didn't even get the results of the biopsy until September 10th, and he passed away October 2nd," Angie says.
Despite this quick and heartbreaking loss, Stan Lee's legacy of encouragement, respect, compassion, and kindness for both humans and animals endures through his wife and children.
For more information about Westside Veterinary Hospital, please visit their website.
