Raymond Lee's deep commitment to Chicago's Chinese community and the city's Chinese American culture led him to devote much of his time and resources to establishing cultural institutions in Chinatown, including Ping Thom Memorial Park and the Chinese American Museum of Chicago.
A successful businessman who founded a large food distribution business, Lee also served on the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Park District Board.
“He really wanted to help develop the Chinese community,” said Veronica Cardenas, Lee’s longtime financial adviser. “The museum… was such an important part of what he wanted to do to preserve culture and educate people. He had such a generous spirit.”
Lee, 90, died of natural causes Aug. 31 in Chicago, his son Sidney said.
He was a longtime resident of this area on the border of Chinatown and Bridgeport.
Li was born in Guangzhou, China in 1934. He moved with his family from China to Chicago on February 1, 1950, to help his father in the family food business, the Quong Yick Food Company on 23rd Street in Chinatown. The family lived above the business.
Lee attended Haynes Elementary School and later graduated from Harrison Technical High School. After that, he attended the University of Illinois, first at Navy Pier and then at Urbana-Champaign.
After his first job as a storekeeper at Quong Yick Company, he worked for several other food companies. Lee and his wife Jean opened a store in Chinatown called Golden Country and eventually expanded it to sell products from Asian countries outside of China. Lee and his wife then began selling Asian foods wholesale to Asian food stores throughout the Midwest under the Golden Country Oriental Food brand.
Long interested in the development of Chinatown, Lee was chairman of the Chinese American Development Corporation and, along with his friend Ping Tom, oversaw the transformation of the 32-acre former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad station at 18th Street and Archer Avenue into a mixed-use development known as Chinatown Square.
After six years of planning, the retail and housing project broke ground in 1990, and the shopping center was completed in the early 1990s. Lee brought the rest of Chinatown Square to completion about ten years after breaking ground.
Lee served on the Chicago Park District board from 1988 to 1989, and from 1989 to 1990 he served on the interim school board appointed by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Tom, who died in 1995, sought to transform the site of industrial wasteland into a waterfront park for Chinatown residents. While he was a Park District commissioner, Lee pushed for the district to purchase the first 6 acres of land to eventually create a larger park serving the area.
After Tom's death, Lee remained a driving force in helping the Chinatown neighborhood receive the 17-acre Ping Thom Memorial Park, which opened in 1999 at 19th Street and Wentworth Avenue. Today, the park features a pavilion with a pagoda-like roof and an entrance with four 20-foot-tall columns, each decorated with Chinese dragons.
One of Lee's major achievements was the creation of the Chinese American Museum in Chicago. The museum, located in the same former Cuong Ic building where Lee once worked and lived, has become a reality. in 2005after Lee donated the entire $660,000 needed to purchase the property. Over the next three years, the museum presented seven exhibitions, including Chinese artifacts from past Chicago World's Fairs, as well as displays of Chinese toys, games, and entertainment activities.
The museum was damaged by a fire in 2008, which destroyed many exhibits, including 23 dioramas from the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Lee immediately helped the museum secure a loan to restore the building, install an elevator and sprinkler system, and renovate the third and fourth floors.
“We are an immigrant community,” Lee told the Tribune in 2009. “We wanted to preserve our heritage. We weren't going to leave because of the fire. Everyone said we needed to rebuild.”
The Chinese American Museum of Chicago continues to operate in its renovated space.
“His legacy is everywhere and everyone can see it,” said K.V. Chan, Lee's longtime friend and colleague in the food distribution industry. “Raymond liked to quote how his good friend Ping Tom described him: “Raymond can always find a simple answer to a difficult situation.” He wore it as a badge of honor. Indeed, Raymond welcomed and thrived on challenges and became bored with routine and detail.”
Lee never retired, his son said. Outside of work, he enjoyed meeting friends and traveling.
Lee's wife of 63 years, Jean, died in 2023. In addition to his son, he is survived by three daughters: Bernice Lee, Serena Lew and Medora Lee; eight grandchildren; four sisters: Jeanette Wu, Cam Lee, Rosemary Izono and Ruth Yaffe; and brother Ronald.
Funeral services took place.
Goldsboro is a freelance reporter.
