Lee Wescott died of natural causes on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. He was called by many names during his lifetime: Dad, Daddy, Granddaddy, Uncle Lee, Mr. Wescott, Mr. Lee, Big Lee, and Coach.

Born on June 27, 1937, in Seminole, Texas, to Clarence Taylor (C.T.) and Mae Wescott, Lee was the fourth of five children. He spent his youth on the family farm.

Lee’s junior year of high school, his family moved to Branson, Missouri, where he played for the Branson Pirates basketball team. His team went on to become state champions with a 41-0 record. He was president of his class and active in Future Farmers of America. His family was among the founding members of the First United Methodist Church in Branson.

He continued his education at School of the Ozarks, where he was a part of its first class as a junior college. Later, he attended McMurry College in Abilene, Texas, where he played basketball and majored in physical education. He also did continuing education at Sacramento State University, Texas Christian University, and Southwest Missouri State University.

He began his career in Eula, Texas, where he served as a coach, science and history teacher, principal, and bus driver (it was a small school!). While in Eula, he lived behind a convenience store, where they let him buy items on the honor system as he walked through the store to his apartment.

After moving to Irving, Texas, in 1962, he met Dee Welch, who became his wife of 58 years, at a New Year’s Eve party. They were married one year later in 1963 at Ridgelea Christian Church in Fort Worth. Lee became a coach at Crockett Junior High and then the first basketball coach at MacArthur High School in Irving.

In 1964, with a growing family, he made a career change to work for International Harvester in Dallas. He served as a zone manager for the farm division in Dallas and Big Springs, then opened up dealerships in Lamesa and Odessa.

At a family reunion, he had spoken with one of Dee’s cousins who owned go-kart tracks in Texas. Remembering his time in Branson and knowing it was emerging as a tourist destination, he conceived the dream of building go-kart tracks there. In the summer of 1980, with Dee and three kids in tow, he moved to Branson, Missouri, to fulfill his dream.

Three days before school started, word had gotten out that he was back in town, and a knock on the door came from the Branson Junior High principal asking him to come coach. So Lee spent that school year once again coaching basketball, teaching PE, and wrangling kids in study hall, while spending his lunch hours and evenings sketching out go-kart tracks, using jar lids from the refrigerator to design the curves.

Initially laughed out of banks for his “crazy” idea to build go-kart tracks “in the middle of nowhere,” he finally got the loan and began building his first family entertainment center. Having three able-bodied children, he did not believe in paying construction workers to clean up after themselves, so it was a real family affair.

The Track opened on Memorial Day Weekend in 1981, with his kids selling go-kart tickets out of their Branson Pirates jackets. Lee figured they needed to sell 700 rides that first day to be profitable. After closing at nearly 2 am with an hour-long line, they had sold 2,200 rides. He determined three things: he needed more help, he needed to increase prices, and that this was going to work.

The Track never closed until the last person had spent their last dollar. This was at the height of video game popularity, so he made sure to accept their last quarter as well. (Make no mistake, Lee was the undisputed champion of the video game, Galaga.)

The Track was so successful that within ten years, there were five thriving family fun parks with fifteen tracks, multiple miniature golf courses and bumper boats, and more. He also launched Kids Kountry, a park for pint-sized patrons; Dutch Kountry Inn, an adjacent hotel; and Peppercorns, a family-style restaurant. He later sold the land behind The Track, for what would become the Tanger Outlet Mall.

Serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission, as well as the Branson Chamber of Commerce Area Marketing Council, Lee was very active in making Branson a top-notch tourist destination. One particular accomplishment came when a group of community leaders decided to try to make Branson, primarily a summer destination at the time, a place to visit for the holidays.

So in 1987, they visited the East Coast to see a town known for its Christmas celebration. Inspired by its success, they came back and created Ozark Mountain Christmas, a world-class holiday destination. In 2009, he received the Pioneer Award from the Branson Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his many years of service and dedication to the Branson community.

While in Branson, Lee recruited many teachers to work at The Track. Always recognizing the importance of education, he implemented a scholarship program, which still exists to this day. It has provided over $1 million to assist employees in their continuing education.

He also helped build family entertainment centers in Panama City Beach and Destin, Florida; Gulf Shores, Alabama; and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. His clients remember one particular piece of wisdom he shared when they were planning a relatively small parking lot for one of their facilities. Lee said if they built it to be small, people would always think of it as a small business. So he encouraged them to build a bigger parking lot, which they did, and they kept this as a metaphorical philosophy throughout the life of their business.

During that time when his summers were so busy with The Track, Lee took his family on cruises over the Christmas holidays, creating incredible memories and trying to take as much money as he could from the blackjack tables.

In 1995, he moved to Ruidoso, New Mexico, where he traded in his Track uniform for a good pair of starched Wranglers and (very) white tennis shoes. He bought Buena Tierra Ranch, where he would raise thoroughbred and quarter horses for the next 17 years. He won and lost a lot of races, but his most successful horse was Iza Ladies Man. When he won a race, he would have one beer, a rare treat because of his diabetes.

Lee and Dee moved to Midlothian, Texas, to be near their oldest daughter in 2012. He lived the good life, enjoying coffee with friends, dominoes at the senior center, and watching high school sports, particularly watching his grandson play basketball. He was a regular attendee of the First United Methodist Church and the Upper Room Sunday School class.

Lee loved his friends and attended many reunions both from high school and college and from his professional career. He loved his dogs, Betsy and Bubba in Ruidoso and Bella in his final years. He always said Bella was the best dog, never barking and even winning a World’s Best Dog Model contest at Midtown Assisted Living in 2019.

He took his son and sons-in-law on an annual trip to Las Vegas for many years. Initially, their “excuse” to go was a basketball tournament held there, but they eventually decided to become rodeo fanatics and attend the National Finals Rodeo when the basketball tournament relocated.

Known for his great business acumen, many people came to him for advice over the years. One thing he said about business was, “I’ve got to breathe clean air.” His integrity was constant. He was generous to a fault, both with his family and many others. When giving away money (or for instance, when his kid wrecked a car), he’d say, “What’s a few bucks between friends?”. When faced with a tough question, he sometimes would answer, “I couldn’t swear to it either way.”

Lee was so proud of his children and grandchildren. He loved hole-in-the-wall Mexican food and never let you leave shrimp uneaten on your plate. He could strike up a conversation with anyone and was as comfortable talking to a person on the street as a billionaire. He loved politics, often “solving the world’s problems” with friends and family. He never tired of watching the Weather Channel and Fox News.

People used to ask him how he knew that Branson would become what it was, and he’d just laugh - his story was definitely one sprinkled with good luck. He was a provider for his family, and some of his final words were about interest in speaking with his CPA and about needing his checkbook.

During his final days in Lakeway, Texas, he enjoyed sitting on the porch watching people and counting deer, playing dominoes, eating Wendy’s Frosties, and going on "joy rides" around town.

Lee is survived by his wife, Dee; children Tracy Wescott Brown and her husband, Scott, and grandson Truman of Midlothian, Texas; Kendra Leigh Wright and her husband, Kirk, and grandson Hudson of Bee Cave, Texas; and Craig Wescott and his wife, Amy, and granddaughters Caroline and Claire of Branson, Missouri. He is preceded in death by his sisters Dorothy Vaughan, Jane Collen, and Betty Plummer, as well as his brother Donald Wescott, all of whom he is undoubtedly playing dominoes with in heaven.

There will not be a service at this time. In lieu of flowers, we have created the Lee Wescott Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit an employee of The Track in Branson, which he founded, and a student at McMurry University, his alma mater. You may donate by sending a check to Lee Wescott Memorial Scholarship Fund, 4305 Adirondack Summit Drive, Austin, TX 78738 or via Venmo @Lee-Wescott-Scholarship.