Chinese Community Leader Arnold Lee Of Millbrae Honored By CA Senate

The California Senate adjourned its session Thursday in memory of Chinese community leader Arnold C. Lee at the request of Senators Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).

Mr. Lee, 80, of Millbrae and a former San Francisco resident, was a longtime volunteer for organizations that included some of the most prominent and historic service groups based in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He was a past president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, a past president of the Lee Family Association, a past Grand President of the United States Lee Family Association and a board member of the Central Chinese High School in America.

Mr. Lee passed away peacefully on June 23 surrounded by his wife, Mimi, their sons, Wayne and Winston, their daughter, Leta, their grandchildren, and his sister, Anne.

“Arnold Lee was a great believer in community empowerment, the importance of education, giving back, and paying it forward,” said Senator Hill. “His many career and volunteer efforts, often in leadership roles, attest to his strong commitment to honoring his heritage as well as the values that resonate in the country of his birth and in the country in which he made his home. He instilled that great love of community service in others. Arnold Lee also was a family man and was deeply proud of children, his grandchildren, and the 55 years he shared with his wife, Mimi.”

“The Chinese community lost a dedicated leader in Arnold Lee,” said Senator Wiener. “He was a kind man who cared deeply about Chinatown and who worked tirelessly to advance his community. Along with Senator Hill, and on behalf of the State Senate, I want to express my sincere condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed.”

Mr. Lee was born in Toisan County in China in 1937. He lived through the Japanese military’s occupation of China in the years before and during World War II and immigrated to the United States as the Communist movement swept China. Mr. Lee joined the United States Army in 1961 and retired with the rank of Master Sergeant. He also enjoyed a long career with the Federal Aviation Administration.

– SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION BY: Office of Senator Hill / IMAGE via YouTube