Lily Lee

Lily was born on June 12, 1957 in Guangzhou to Chui Tong Mak and the late Pak Chiu Lee. In 1962, Lily and her mother left mainland China to Hong Kong while her mother was pregnant with Lily’s brother, David. During that time, her father was in a labor camp in China. In 1964, her father reunited with the family in Hong Kong and in 1971 they immigrated to the US as political refugees. They settled in New York for a bit and later moved to Oregon where Lily finished high school and graduated from Oregon State University with a BA in Nutrition.

Her family moved to Olympia and opened up a restaurant called the New Shanghai Cafe (新上海楼), while she moved to Seattle and started working at the University Towers. She later moved to San Francisco and Dallas for a period of time before coming back to Seattle in 1996 to be close to her parents and brother. A couple of years later she had her first and only daughter, Lauren, who was her entire world and as Lily always called her “my mini-me”. Many of her friends and family called her the social butterfly of the group, because no matter where she lived or worked, she would make friends with just about anyone. The first thing she would say when arriving at a family event was “The entertainment is here!”.

She loved traveling and visited many countries like Belize, Costa Rica, Israel, Thailand, several countries in Europe, and more! She even became the owner of her own travel agency called Spirit Travel and Cruises. One of Lily’s favorite activities was getting together with friends and family over a good meal. She loved finding the best spots in town for various cuisines and sharing it with others. For Lily, it was a public service to share the artistry and flavors of well-prepared meals, made even more memorable by the laughter and conversation of the people she was with.

Lily is survived by her daughter Lauren, her mother Chui Tong Mak, her uncle Feng Li and aunt Zu-Ying Zhang. Cousins: Diane Li (husband Chris Payne and sons Alac and Bryan Wong), Yan Li (husband John Wang), Vivian Li (husband Jansen Knez and daughter Natalie Knez)

The service will be livestreamed at 11 am on Saturday, April 15th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOWzqHwrY4Q

The family is accepting flowers or donations can be made in Lily’s memory to Fred Hutch Cancer Center where Lily received treatment for her AML.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the family.