Snow no damper on Lee’s arrival in Sun City
SUN CITY – On the first nice, warm day this spring, Sun Citians may see an unusual sight in the Prairie Lodge parking lot.
A tall person will pull up on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Don’t worry, it’s not an invasion by bandanna-wearing bikers, and it isn’t an undercover cop checking out residents’ driving habits.
When she takes off her helmet, they’ll discover the driver is Lauren Lee, Sun City’s new community association executive director. The new boss of the First Service Residential staff said riding her Harley is one of her favorite activities, in addition to solving jigsaw puzzles, golfing, or rooting for her favorite baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lee isn’t just an occasional Harley rider. When she plans a vacation, it often includes the cycle. She and husband Jerry recently celebrated an anniversary by riding their Harleys 5,600 miles from the southwest to the east coast and back.
The Lees live in East Dundee, so Lauren is a commuter.
“I plan to drive it to work on as many nice days as I can,” she said.
Sun City’s new executive director Lauren Lee arrived from sunny Arizona into one of the snowiest and coldest Chicago winters in recent history. The cold might hold up her motorcycle rides but not her drive to serve the community.(Chris La Pelusa/Sun Day Photo)
When Lee arrived in Sun City last November, she also quickly demonstrated a fearless “try anything once” nature. She moved to the Chicago area from sunny, warm Arizona just before the start of what has turned out to be one of the most relentless, frigid winters in recent Chicago history.
“When I was 14 years old, my parents moved us to Summit County, Colorado, elevation 10,000 feet,” she said. “I am very familiar with cold and snow.”
Lee is the second woman to serve as the chief executive director of Sun City. Judy Julison was the first more than a decade ago. Lee succeeds Bill Pennock, who served as the executive director for the former Wentworth Management for six years before leaving the position last summer.
Lee is a mother, grandmother, a three-sport athlete in high school, and a professional certified association manager with nearly 20 years experience in the field. Above all, however, she is a “people person” who likes to hunker down and communicate with the people she serves, as well as her staff subordinates.
“I always say, ‘my door is always open,’” she said. “I even have some fun with that. Shortly after I started here, a man came to the door of my office and said, ‘I was just checking to see if your door is always open.’ We had a good laugh over that.”
A native of Glen Cove, NY, on Long Island, Lee moved to Colorado with her family when she was nine. “My dad moved us because he liked Colorado when he was in the Air Force there,” she said. “A few years later, we moved to Summit County, in the Rocky Mountains. I spent my teenage years living and playing in lots of snow and enjoying winter sports.”
She played volleyball, basketball, and ran track in high school.
“One of my best memories of that time is of Thursday afternoons there,” she recalled. “They let classes out early, and we had a big outdoor physical education period, where we could choose among cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, skating, or snowshoeing. I still enjoy watching the Olympics now and seeing all the winter sports.”
Lee earned a real estate license shortly after high school graduation.
“I became familiar with real estate laws and property rights and real estate management,” she said.
In 1999, the Lees moved to Pagosa Lakes, Col., where she worked as executive administrative assistant for the Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association, which managed 27 subdivisions.
By 2003, Lee had enough of snow, and she and Jerry relocated to Tucson, Ariz. While continuing to work in the homeowners association field, she studied at the Community Association Institute, the educational arm of the association management field. She earned association management specialist and eventually professional certified association manager titles.
Lee then moved to the Phoenix area and worked for a developer-controlled family living development in the town of Surprise.
“They taught me a lot about homeowners rights and how to help them and support their lifestyles,” she said. “This is the softer, nicer side of property and homeowner association management. In 2007, I went to work for Westbrook Village in Peoria, a suburb of Phoenix.”
A self-managed community of 3,900 homes for seniors, Westbrook Village was similar to Sun City Huntley, Lee said.
“They had many of the sports and recreational activities that we have here, as well as arts and crafts,” she said.
Eventually, family circumstances prompted Lee to seek new opportunities.
“Last year, I started looking around for opportunities in Colorado or in the Midwest to be closer to one of our two sons and our two grandchildren,” she said. “I was networking with contacts in CAI and one of the contacts was with First Service Residential. They encouraged me to apply here in Huntley.”
Lee’s other son is in the army at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
Lee describes her management style as people-oriented.
“I work for 5,500 homes and the people in them. I like to mix and mingle with the residents and watch them enjoy themselves and stay independent in retirement,” she said. “I have already visited many neighborhood groups and have popped into a number of club events and activities. I enjoy doing that.”
Why the Dodgers in baseball?
“My grandmother worked for the Brooklyn Dodgers before they moved to the west coast,” Lee said. “My family members were all big Dodger fans.”
After several visits to Lee’s office, it’s apparent that her door is “always open.” She hasn’t revealed yet if she’ll offer residents a ride on her Harley, however.
