Mr. Gene L. Lee

GENE L. LEE, 84, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather passed away at home on Sunday, October 24, 2010 surrounded by his family.He is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Hedy, and his children and their spouses: Pearl and Mike Robb, Judy Lee and Tim Toy, Sandy and Leland Dean, Sam and Julie Lee, Susie Lee and Larry Huang. He had 9 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter: Steven, Greg, Christopher, Kevin, Katherine, Emily, Nicholas, Alex, Harrison and Abbey. He was also uncle to Jewelry Yep and Yanyi Eng.Gene Lee was born in Canton, China and came to the US in 1949. He proudly served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany where he met his devoted wife. They moved to Houston and operated Gene's Food Market on Leeland Ave. before opening Lee Printing & Office Supplies in 1970, the first Chinese printing company in the Southwest. In 1976 he published the first Chinese/English newspaper in the region, the Southwest Chinese Journal. In addition to his business interests, he was a dedicated student of Chinese classical literature, history and poetry, and spent many hours studying and reciting passages. He enjoyed Chinese music and played for several years with a Cantonese opera group. Gene enjoyed traveling and took the entire Lee family to China, Europe and on a Caribbean/Mexico cruise. He was a doting and generous grandfather. He was a proud patriot who taught U.S. citizenship classes and helped others achieve the American dream as he had.If you wish, memorial contributions can be made to the Gene L. Lee Scholarship Fund at the Texas Lee Federal Credit Union, 11110 Bellaire Blvd. Suite 213, Houston, TX 77072 or [email protected] or to the charitable organization of your choice.Visitation is Thursday, October 28, 2010 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Funeral services will be on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 11:00 am. Both will be held at Forest Park Lawndale, 6900 Lawndale St, Houston, TX, 77023 713-928-5141.

Gene L. Lee

by Judy Lee, October 29, 2010

Mr. Lee, is what most people called him. Mr. Gene is what most customers of his grocery store called him. Many in the Chinese community, especially those with the last name Lee called him Uncle Gene. We children called him Papa and the grandkids called him Opa.

On behalf of the Gene Lee family I'd like to share some of our thoughts about who he was and how his life was so meaningful to so many.

As you have heard and read, our father came from very humble beginnings from a farming village in Toisan province near Canton (Guangzhou), China. He suffered many hardships including decades of separation from his father who had immigrated to Canada in search of work, and the loss of his mother as a young child. He lived through the upheaval and trauma of World War II and knew hunger, deprivation and fear. His formal education ended at 5th or 6th grade. However, he rarely spoke of these times as we were growing up. He only reluctantly revealed bits and pieces, primarily to the grandkids to help them with school projects about family history.

Looking back now on what we know, the experiences of these earlier years must have sparked in him a desire to achieve a better life and forged in him the discipline and determination to make it happen.

He made the month long journey to the U.S. in 1949 by passenger ship. It was a family effort that enabled him to come - his father sent ship passage from his wages as a restaurant cook in Canada, other uncles and cousins accompanied him and he came to live with his sister and her husband who had settled in Houston, Texas .

At that time in Houston there were very few Chinese, perhaps a few hundred, and virtually all of them came from Toisan province. Because of segregation, lack of education and inability to speak English, job opportunities were limited. Most of these early Chinese immigrants opened or worked in small businesses such as grocery stores and restaurants. Our dad started working in a grocery store and went to school to learn English. He fondly recalled attending the classes held by ladies from the Baptist church who cleverly used the labels from canned goods to teach in a quick and meaningful way.

In 1952 he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany. Our dad did love to talk about the Army and how grateful he was to have had this experience. He was exposed to young men from all walks of life, all races and religions and this was a tremendous window into American life. He was also afforded the opportunity to take classes in all types of subjects including mathematics, U.S. history and even typing. He told us that he signed up for every class it was possible to take because he realized that this was an invaluable opportunity to learn - and all for free! We arel even more grateful to the U.S. Army because during his assignment he met our wonderful mother, his lifelong partner and helpmate.

They both knew a little English and used a pocket dictionary for whatever they could not figure out. After a six week whirlwind courtship they married in Germany. Thus begin the real adventure of raising 5 children, opening 3 businesses, contributing to the community good, traveling the world and spoiling 9 grandchildren and a great grand daughter.

Eight Lessons Learned From Our Father

1. Learn, Learn, Learn - Our father was a lifelong student. He was curious about the world and nothing stopped him from educating himself. He was a voracious reader and appreciated the power of knowledge to be gleaned from books, newspapers and manuals (yes, he actually did read instructions!) He was over 40 when he learned the printing business. He went to a vocational printing class and studied on his own. He also greatly valued the wisdom of others and did not hesitate to start conversations with those he believed could teach him. He practiced the adage - 'you learn by listening, not by talking". And he did not let his strong accent stop him from asking questions - he would just repeat the question more slowly. He was confident and fearless in striking up a conversation with just about anyone. His love of classical Chinese literature, poetry and history was immense. In his retirement, he spent many hours a day reading, writing, memorizing and reciting famous poems and the Analects of Confucius. He would recite to us in Chinese and then excitedly translate to us in English. We could tell how moved he was at the beauty, power and wisdom of these ancient passages. His favorite poet was Li Po of the Tang dynasty in the 8th century AD.

2. Work hard - Our dad was a hard worker; owning and operating your own business means much more than an 8 to 5 work schedule. The grocery store was open 6 and 7 days a week from 8 am to 8 pm - he was on his feet for most of this time. The printing and office supplies company required work after hours and on weekends to fill orders and meet deadlines. Lucky for us my father was a great believer in child labor. We were all put to work as early as age five. In the grocery store Sandy, Sam and Susie were tasked with dusting the shelves, fronting the cans and sweeping the floor. Pearl and I manned the cash register and the meat market. We learned to count change, chop a chicken and slice meat. In the printing company we all worked together folding, stapling, collating paper, and running the presses. I'm sure all kinds of child labor laws were violated - we remarked on this many times when spending long Saturdays and summer breaks at work. However, looking back we know that we learned priceless lessons such as a strong work ethic, responsibility and the power of team effort.

3. Use Common Sense- if you really wanted to irritate our dad, all you had do was act without thinking it out well and see a poor outcome as the result. Poor planning, failure to analyze the situation, failure to prepare, failure to gather and use the correct tools, etc. would yield the dreaded outcry of "no common sense" from him. There are many instances we can recall hearing this utterance, and what was even more dreaded was the following lecture and instruction on how things should have been done correctly. "Don't be sloppy; be careful; if you do it, you got to do it the right way; don't just rush, rush; don't take shortcuts to sacrifice quality; ... ai yah!" Lately, he began to apply this succinct view to what is wrong with America - people have lost their common sense.

4. Be Respectful - Our father was very old school - showing signs of respect were important to him and to my mother. We were taught to show respect to the ancestors by visits to the cemetery to light incense and offer food. Teachers were never at fault for any bad grades; we just did not work hard enough. The flag was saluted and the national anthem was sung. All adults were Mr. or Mrs. / Uncle or Auntie - no way could we call them by their first name. To raise our voice or talk back to our father was the ultimate disrespect. Although these seem to be superficial actions, the underlying meaning was quite clear to us and became firmly ingrained as he expected. All people were spoken to and treated by our father with recognition of their human dignity. The golden rule was practiced devoutly - treat others as you would like to be treated. As he would say - "it's very simple"

5. Have fun, find humor, joy and beauty in life - Our father loved a party and the excitement of life. Many of you know that he enjoyed a good game of mahjong and going to Las Vegas and the casinos in Lake Charles. As much as he liked the gaming, an equal draw was the fun of meeting and talking to all types of people. He and my mother both have a great sense of humor and laughter filled our many gatherings. As children, our father was a fun and playful parent, too. He taught us to ride bikes, to bait a hook and fish, to play ping pong and basketball. He also let us do "fun" things that we are amazed we are alive to tell about: we lit thousands of Black Cat firecrackers in the back yard at New Year's and fired bottle rockets to the sky and at each other, he took us to the Farmer's Market on Airline to buy watermelons and then let us ride in the back of the open truck sitting on top of the stack of watermelons and speeding down I-45 North; he sat us in his lap to shift the gears of the old pick up truck - with no seat belts. Of course these are some of our best memories of our dad.

Our dad played the violin and greatly enjoyed Cantonese opera music. He taught himself to play violin and other Chinese stringed instruments and would play along to taped music for hours. What you may not know is that he also enjoyed many old American folk classics and taught them to us as kids for family sing a longs - his favorites were You Are My Sunshine, Old Susannah, On Top of Old Smokey, Clementine and the one he sang to my mother, Red River Valley.

My father was a great romantic and very sentimental. He often wrote cards and lovely poems to my mother, all signed "your husband, Gene L. Lee" as if she needed a reminder. He also loved to shop for and buy her bottles of perfume. He appreciated her beauty both inside and out.

6. "Go for the gusto", "Just do it" "Take a chance" "Live life" These are words our dad never said to us, but the message has come through loud and clear by the very way he lived his life. He made an incredible journey from a foreign land with few resources other than his wits, his drive and determination. He did not let failure nor fear of failure stop him. He did not heed naysayers or negative people, and I'm sure he encountered many of them. He believed in the American dream of open opportunity to achieve prosperity based on one's abilities and hard work. And he believed in our precious freedoms under the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

7. Love and honor the family - Our dad above all loved his family. The grandchildren were his special joy. As commonly happens, when the burden and responsibility of disciplining his own children was lifted, the very lucky grandchildren benefited from their Opa's generosity and boundless love. He shamelessly fed them candy right in front of us parents, he took them to Toys R Us, and constantly gave them money for no good reason, totally unearned by any merit. He loved us all - he never hesitated to offer and provide support and advice in our times of need. We gathered together many times over the years as a family to celebrate the holidays, birthdays etc. At some time during each of these gatherings he would tap on a glass - ping, ping - to get our attention, stand up and express his happiness that we could all be together and how much we meant to him.

8. Be Open minded and Open hearted. Build Bridges, not Walls - A final lesson that we learned from our father is that he was a man who experienced different cultures, societies and generational thought during his long life. But he adapted well and enjoyed the challenge of change. He was most definitely a bridge builder across communities and generations. He accomplished this by his willingness to listen to each side. He exercised compassion and forgiveness, and always conveyed hope for brighter future.

The lessons taught by our father were many times not easy to learn. Especially after one of his lectures - we would quickly put the word out "Papa's fussing - stay out of his way". But, boy did those lessons stick and our lives are so abundantly enriched. I know he would be pleased with our final tribute to him. Mission accomplished, Papa - thank you, we love you.