More than medicine

Before dawn, a frantic woman waited outside an animal clinic with her dog, Luigi, who had been mauled in a dog fight. His face was disfigured, his nose no longer affixed. His ears were infected and his skin irritated by a flea allergy. Luigi’s owner, Gale McCoy, 64, had traveled from Stanton desperate to save her dog. 

Dr. Steven Lee, 75, arrived before his normal hours of operation.

Years later, Gale still remembers. “He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you,” she told him.

These cases aren’t unusual for Steven, a single father of four, originally from Georgia. He opened Winchester Animal Clinic 32 years ago to provide a life for his family.

The animals were the heart of his work but as time passed, people were why he stayed. 

“I helped that dog [Luigi], which helped her,” Steven said. 

His days are filled with a sense of urgency — and the quiet understanding that healing isn’t always found in a textbook. Steven’s practice of medicine is rooted in a philosophy of compassion, resourcefulness and faith. 

His treating animals meant caring for the people who love them, often finding alternatives when conventional treatment is beyond a family’s financial reach. He credits God for the life he has built, finding meaning not only in healing animals but in offering their owners reassurance, dignity and sometimes a little more time together. 

“I wouldn’t be where I am, doing what I’m doing, if it wasn’t for God,” Steven said.

For Gail DeMarcus, 64, a fellow veterinarian, Steven’s compassion became more than a philosophy when her own dog suffered a broken hind leg. 

Surgery would have cost thousands of dollars. But Steven saw another way. He recommended a specialized splint designed to bring the dog’s leg back into alignment.

Weeks later, the dog recovered without a limp.

“The compassion he showed to that dog and to us just was above and beyond what most veterinarians would do,” Gail said. “Life is not by the book. Life is going to throw you curves and you’ve got to make the adjustments to get yourself lined up with a path that’s going to be beneficial to you and to others.”

In a profession guided by science, Lee’s legacy is also shaped by something less easily measured: consideration for who walks in the door. “He’s more than just a doctor, a veterinarian,” Gail said. “He is a friend.”

Leaving Georgia decades ago was easy. His life there had been built around animals he cared for. But in Winchester, the years have woven something harder to untangle. “People are harder to leave,” Steven said.