UPDATE as of 8 AM:
Lee-Ann Wilbur, RIP, June 1, 2021
There is only one word for the loss of Lee-Ann Wilbur: tragic. This young woman (she had only just turned fifty) was beginning a new life without the daily stresses of managing the Lizzie Borden B&B. She was its co-owner, and soon (if not already) would benefit financially from the sale of the business that closed only late last week. The grief at her passing will affect thousands of fans, followers, friends, and customers.
I have known Lee-Ann since 2004 when she and her then partner purchased the Lizzie Borden B&B. I always found her kind and without an agenda. One time, I called her up and asked if I could stay at the house when there were no other guests, just to feel the place and be there without the hullabaloo of conversations, tours, people, and noise. Her response? “I wondered when you were going to ask. Sure, how about tomorrow night. No charge.”
Lee-Ann had an eclectic professional life. She was a long-haul trucker (and was very proud that she had maintained that license), a professional body builder, and an innkeeper. She told me she met Donald Woods in an acting class—and the rest is history. Donald bought the B&B for $410,000 and Lee-Ann was to work the house as its manager. They effected a LOT of changes to the property over the years. They tore down the Leary Press and put back the side yard on the south side of the property. They built a barn (not in its original location) for a gift shop and management office. They created a parking lot in the back for customers. They had the house painted and did some renovations, putting in so much sweat equity that it recently sold for $1.2 million dollars.
Then, to top it off, Lee-Ann and Donald purchased Maplecroft (Lizzie’s home on the hill, purchased following her acquittal) in 2018. They had cornered the Lizzie Borden market, it seems. But Maplecroft could not open because the city of Fall River created an impediment at every turn, attempting to force the new owners to add handicapped accessibility to this private business, which would ruin the historic nature of the home.
That Lee-Ann will be missed is an understatement. She was one of a kind. And while I know others saw different sides to her in other capacities, I don’t remember ever having a conflict with her. It wasn’t that she avoided that sort of thing, as some people do, but she just never created the situation where any problems with her would arise. She didn’t deserve any of the bad things that happened to her in her life. And now, with her passing, we have all lost someone who touched our lives in different and amazing ways.
And so today, on the seventy-fourth anniversary of the death of Lizzie Borden, RIP, Lee-Ann. You will not be forgotten.
