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Oprah Winfrey bade farewell to her mother, Vernita Lee.
The 83-year-old woman died on Thanksgiving Day at her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lee lived a difficult life working as a housekeeper while raising three children.
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In an interview with Barbara Walters, Winfrey told his mother and father after achieving success through The show of Oprah Winfrey.
"[I wanted] take care of them, provide for them and ensure that they never miss anything as they tried to do it for me, "said the mogul.
Although Lee's last years were spent in the comfort of his home, his life was far from easy. Here's all you need to know about the mother of four.
Born in the great south
Lee was born on May 2, 1935 and worked as a housekeeper all her life. She was barely 18 when she met Vernon Winfrey and spent a night with him, which resulted in the design of his famous daughter.
Shortly after Winfrey's birth in Mississippi in 1954, Lee moved to Milwaukee, leaving his daughter in the care of his mother, Hattie Mae Lee. Winfrey would be raised by her grandmother for the first six years of her life.
Sending Oprah to her father
In 1998, Winfrey told Barbara Walters that she was a troublesome teenager when she was growing up with her mother.
"Before, I was running away from home, bringing boys home and causing me all kinds of problems," said the mogul.
Everything changed when Lee sent Winfrey to live with his father in Tennessee.
"I was 14 and then sent to my father's house," recalls Winfrey. "And that has finished. This has finished. He was so strict because he knew what he had to deal with.
Patricia Amanda Lee Faye, Vernita Lee and Oprah Winfrey
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Deal with a loss
Lee gave birth to four children, but lost his son Jeffrey Lee in 1989 and his daughter Patricia Lee Lloyd in 2003.
About the loss, she told TMJ4, a local station in Milwaukee in May 2007, that her Christian faith had helped her escape these tragic deaths.
"I am a Christian and if you are a Christian, it will help you cope with such situations," she said. "I spent a lot of time with Oprah, Jeffrey and Patricia."
Meeting with the girl she has placed for adoption
This 2007 interview with the Milwaukee station allowed Patricia Amanda Faye Lee, Lee's birth daughter, to discover that Lee was actually his mother.
In 2011, Winfrey invited Patricia to The show of Oprah Winfrey after discovering that she had a half-sister. In one clip of the series, Patricia said that she always "asked who my biological mother was and that she lives within 10 minutes of me in the same city. Unbelievable."
Winfrey spoke to his audience saying, "A few months ago, at Thanksgiving, I discovered that I had a half-sister whom I had never had before. heard. I did not even know that my mother had abandoned a baby for adoption in 1963. "
"I can not tell you how many times have I made a story like this on The show of Oprah Winfrey. Needless to say, this is something you have to deal with, "she continued.
Winfrey's mother said she never spoke to the host about the adoption "because I thought it was a terrible thing for me to do," the source said. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"I made the decision to give up because I was unable to take full care of her," she said.
Winfrey said she accepted her mother's decision saying, "To my mother, I say, you can let go of this shame.
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