Lee graduated from Four Oaks High School in Johnston County in 1964, and attended N.C. Wesleyan College. He started working at Central Prison as a correctional officer in 1967 where he was promoted to sergeant, then lieutenant. He worked for a year on the state prison system’s classification board before becoming an assistant superintendent for custody and operations at Polk Youth Institution where he worked for 16 years. He was made associate warden for operations at Central Prison in 1991, and promoted to deputy warden in 1994.

Lee and his wife, Wanda, have two children, 29-year-old Craig and 22-year-old Chad. When he’s not working, Lee likes to relax and fish at the coast.