Helping the 'Clee Clan' after wife, mother dies in car crash

Coworkers raising money for Molly Clee's five children

MONETA, Va. – Molly Clee started working at Pizza Pub near Smith Mountain Lake three years ago and she became fast friends with the other waitresses.

"So playful to work with," said Nichole Moeller, an assistant manager.

"All smiles, all the time," said Courtney McGuire, a waitress.

Taylor Tester, another server, said Molly always knew how to make her laugh and loved to scare people, even customers.

"She would literally hide in the corner and jump out at people," Tester said.

After finishing her shift on June 11, Molly stayed at the restaurant talking with Tester for hours.

"We talked about life. We talked about everything, like we usually do," Tester said. 

The next morning, Tester got a call.

"She goes, 'Taylor, Molly had a car accident and she didn't make," Tester said. "I couldn't believe it. I was in shock for a couple days."

Clee wasn't wearing a seat belt when her car crashed on Clover Creek Road around 2 a.m. June 12. She died at the scene just two weeks shy of her 30th birthday.

"That's when everybody just kind of broke down," Moeller said.

The Pizza Pub family couldn't couldn't believe they had lost their friend, a wife and mother of five children. Heartbroken, they wanted to help.

Moeller started a GoFundMe page but never dreamed they would raise more than $87,000.

"Just from there, it kept growing," Moeller said.

However, the staff still wanted to do more. This Saturday, July 6, the workers are collecting all their tips and donations to give to Clee's kids.

"We're calling it a Molly jar instead of a money jar," Moeller said.

"I'm so excited to do this for her and for the kids, her 'wildlings' as she called them," Tester said.

The waitresses said that Clee was a ray of sunshine who loved to sing, dance and laugh.

"She wouldn't want us to just sit around and be sad forever," Moeller said. "The best way I can see to go on is to just learn from the way she lived her life."

Tester said Clee reminded her not to sweat the little things. Though it's the little things about Molly that mean the most.

"It's the little things you don't think about that you're really going to miss," Tester said.

The fundraiser for Clee's family runs tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Pizza Pub at Bridgewater Plaza near Smith Mountain Lake. All tips and donations will go to directly to Clee's kids.

You can also donate to her GoFundMe page.


About the Author:

You can watch Lindsey during Virginia Today every weekend or as a reporter during the week!