The sun was shining down Sunday as friends, family and community members of the late Dan Lee gathered in Clisbee park to watch a dedication years in the making.

The words “endeavor to persevere” will from now on hang over the basketball courts in Clisbee park after they were dedicated to Lee Sunday afternoon.

The dedication, which also included a sign over the courts and a memorial rock engraved with a brief biography of Lee, has been in the works since 2015 when the courts were renamed in Lee’s honor.

“This is all inspired by him,” said Lee’s niece Kim Brown. “He really deserves this. He did so much for the community.”

A 1970 Cassopolis graduate, Lee was the recreation director of Cassopolis Public Schools before he died in 2011 at the age of 60. In this position, he ran summer youth programs, some of them at Clisbee Park. He also founded the Cassopolis Community Association to mentor and tutor at-risk youth and started the Cassopolis Rocket Football program, as well as the youth basketball program.

“[Lee] was all about the kids. When it came to the kids, it didn’t matter if they were good or bad, he loved them,” Brown said. “And they loved him.”

Even outside of youth work, Lee was involved in the community. He helped organize the Martin Luther King Jr. Day events for more than two decades. These events are still being hosted each year in Cassopolis.

“There really are too many words to describe him,” Brown said. “But was one of the best ones is giving. He was giving and caring until the day he died. He cared so much for those kids.”

The dedication took two years to come to fruition, because both the family and the village wanted everything to be done right, Brown said.

During that time, according to Brown, they were able to get everything about the basketball courts right in order to make a fitting tribute to Lee, who would have wanted the children of Cassopolis to have a place to play, she said.

Lee clearly left a mark on the community, as the park was filled for the dedication, with many of Lee’s friends and family in attendance. Several people spoke at the event to give glowing and touching speeches in Lee’s honor. Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman was one of those people.

“[Lee] was always, until the day he died, wanting to do something better for the kids,” Herman said. “I can’t think of a more deserving person for this than Dan.”

Herman was only one of many of Lee’s friends who spoke at the dedication. One of Lee’s former Western Michigan University professors and the vice mayor of Kalamazoo, Don Cooney, came from Kalamazoo to speak at the event.

Each of Lee’s five siblings, as well as one of his cousins, also stood to speak at the event.

“Dan was my best friend,” said Lee’s cousin Oscar Lee. “He was all about bringing the community together. Seeing everyone here would have made him smile.”

Those who attended the funeral believe the dedication is the first step to honoring Lee and keeping his memory alive in the Cassopolis community.

Lee’s 26-year-old nephew Stefon Luckey is running trainings at the Clisbee Park basketball courts for children in need, much like his uncle before him.

“I got this idea from Uncle Dan,” Luckey said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this is it hadn’t been for him pushing me.”

Training is just one of the ways Lee’s family hopes to continue his legacy in Cassopolis. The family is in the early planning stages of potentially bringing a community athletic center to the area, Brown said.

“This is what he would have wanted,” Brown said.