Douglas Tak Woon Lee

surrounded by his loving family at his home in Seattle.

Douglas Tak Woon Lee was born in Hang Mei village, Zhongshan district, in Guangdong

province, China, on February 11, 1925 to Lee Kwok Cheung and Kwok Shui Wah. He was

the youngest of 3 children, was preceded in death by his middle sister Lee Wai Ching, and is

survived by his oldest sister Lee Wai Yung who is 102 years old, his beloved wife of 65 years

Mary Yue Chu Lee, and 9 children, 20 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, 5 nieces and

nephews, and many grand-nieces and grand-nephews, cousins, and in-laws.

Douglas lived and worked in Hong Kong as a clerk until 1962 when he was able to emigrate

to Seattle with the help of Mary’s sister and her husband, June and Willie Dong, and

relatives who owned the Tsue Chong Company. After working at the Chinatown noodle

factory for several years he became a machinist at the Mamco Manufacturing Company in

Ballard, making airplane fittings, parts, and landing gears, etc. to Boeing specifications for

commercial aircraft until his retirement in the early 1990s.

He proudly became a naturalized American citizen on August 4, 1972 and was a respected

member of many grand juries in Spokane, valued for his morals and ethics. He was a

sincere, humble man of few words with a fierce, independent, and gentle spirit. An

industrious and thrifty man, he could fix almost anything - washing machines, bicycles,

cars, sewing machines, even furnaces. He was very resourceful, collecting discarded

shipping pallets, disassembling and reusing their boards (and nails!) to make new walls and

rooms in the basement of his house, and when that was done, burned the pallets to keep

his family warm while saving money.

His love of music was a constant thread in his life; he was singing and humming happily

even to the end.

His artistic abilities blossomed after retirement, writing calligraphy and reproducing

famous Chinese paintings on the back sides of wallpaper rolls.

He is most grateful to God for his long life with his wife by his side, and for his children.

He was buried on Friday August 16, 2019 in a private graveside service at Evergreen

Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Douglas’s name may be made to the charity of your choice.