Paul don Lee, who was born in Kwang Tung Province, China immigrated to the United States when he was 14. He graduated from Harrison High School in Chicago, enlisted in the Navy and was discharged honorably in 1945. In 1947 he visited homeland and married. In 1962, he started his restaurant business on Wentworth Avenue, called King Hah Restaurant. Later, Mr. Lee opened two more King Wah restaurants. In 1970, he produced a movie called The Arch which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Mr. Lee and his brother also developed a 102-unit housing complex in Chinatown called the Oriental Terraces in 1982. In 1984, he was recruited by the late U.S. Representative Frank Annunzio, a Chicago Democrat, to be his adviser on Chinese affairs. Mt. Lee led three congressional delegations to China for the congressman.
Mr. Lee died of heart attack on March 3. He was 79. Mr. Lee is survived by his wife, May Gee; two sons, Frank and Howard; a daughter, Betty Lee Wong; a sister, Kam Yee; and two brothers, Donald and Jimmy. (Source: Susan Kuczka, Chicago Tribune, Mar. 10, 2003)