Marion Lee, 61, long a voice of Atlanta police

Marion “Deboe” Lee was fresh from the Police Academy when she found herself at the center of a controversial Atlanta undercover operation in 1974.

As a young African-American woman, Ms. Lee was seen as an ideal candidate to infiltrate a black weekly newspaper, the Atlanta Voice. Police suspected employees of the newspaper of having ties to a domestic terror group, the Symbionese Liberation Army — the group responsible for the famous kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst.

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Marion Lee worked undercover after joining the Atlanta Police Department.

Ms. Lee got a job as a typesetter at the Atlanta Voice. But Mayor Maynard Jackson — who was in a bitter struggle with police chief John Inman for control of the department — got wind of the operation and strongly objected. Ms. Lee quit the undercover operation and her photo and story ended up on the front page of The Atlanta Constitution.

It was the beginning of a long, and often public, career with the Atlanta police. Lee retired last year after more than 34 years with the Atlanta police — mostly as a public information officer.

Ms. Lee, 61, died Friday of an embolism at her home in southwest Atlanta. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Friday at Mount Ephraim Baptist Church in Atlanta. Willie Watkins Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Born in Cleveland, Tenn., Ms. Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Georgia State University and a master’s in African-American Studies from Clark Atlanta University.

She used the nickname “Deboe,” her mother’s maiden name, because she was close to her mother’s family, who were from Tennessee and Kentucky, said her son, Douglas Evans III of East Point.

She spent about the first five years on the force as a sworn police officer, said James Polite Jr., public information officer and chaplain director for the Atlanta police.

After that, she helped to start the public information office, he said. She fielded questions from the media, wrote speeches for police chiefs and Atlanta public safety commissioners and worked with local churches in a campaign against crime.

One of the first things she did as a public information officer was create an annual event for retirees to get together, the Retired Atlanta Police Officers Roundup, said Mr. Polite.

“She thought it was odd that the retired officers didn’t have a way to keep up with each other,” he said.

The event continues today and includes a picnic and barbecue in Grant Park for about 600 retirees, he said.

Ms. Lee was a warm person but could be brutally honest with anyone, regardless of his or her rank, Mr. Polite said. “She was that way because she really wanted to help you,” he said.

Outside of her police work, she had a passion for doll collecting. She had about 300 African-American dolls displayed in her dining room and around her house.

“She started collecting them because ever since she was a little girl, she just loved dolls,” said her son. “Some of them were very expensive, signed by the designer.”

Survivors also include a brother, Richard Shepard of Fairburn; and a grandson.