Lee Duck Yee

Lee Duck Yee
1928 – 2024
Lee Yee passed away peacefully at home, with family at his side.
Lee was born in 1928 in San Carlos, California, in a third-generation family of flower growers in San Mateo County. He attended Nesbit Elementary in Belmont, and graduated Sequoia High School in Redwood City, where he played basketball and lettered in track.
While attending San Jose State he received his draft notice and was quickly sent to fight in the Korean War. While on patrol, he triggered a land mine and immediately lost his right leg above the knee, suffered permanent, debilitating injuries to his right arm and was riddled with shrapnel – some of which he carried for the rest of his life. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Korean Service Medal.
As a disabled veteran, Lee faced an uncertain future at a time long before passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act when few, if any, accommodations were made for people with physical limitations. He worked to the extent he was able at his family's 11-acre chrysanthemum farm. In 1952, he was hired by Ah Sam Florist in San Mateo. While there, he met and married Lilly Wong and started a family. "Mr. Lee" was well known as Ah Sam's Office & Facilities Manager, retiring in 2006. During that time, he mentored countless employees and interns sharing his vast knowledge of horticulture and inspiring those who knew him with his quiet determination, his concern for the welfare of others and consistently positive attitude.
Lee was a fiercely independent man who never let his disability define who he was. Nor would he allow his war injury to limit his activities. Along with a job that could be physically demanding, Lee made time for light construction projects for his family and designed/built two outdoor aviaries at home. His hobbies included photography, fishing, raising Italian canaries, or simply tending to his garden. Lee and Lilly enjoyed their annual trips to destinations including Europe, Asia, Australia and Russia accompanied by Lilly's sister Nellie Leong and her husband, Lincoln. Lee was an avid fan of our local sports teams, especially cherishing his 49ers season tickets in the 1980s-1990s.
After Lilly's death in 2003, Lee maintained his independent, self-sufficient lifestyle until his nineties when age and the cumulative effect of his war wounds finally caught up with him. With typical good grace, fortitude and a wry sense of humor, he accepted the fact that he could no longer live independently. Fortunately, he was able to live at home with the help of his daughters, along with loving caregivers Mary, Audrey and Denise of Home Helpers Home Care of San Mateo County, and the wonderful teams at Sutter Care at Home and the Palo Alto Veteran's Administration.
Lee was predeceased by his wife Lilly, his parents Men and Leong Shee, brothers Philip and Walter, and sisters May and Nan. He is survived by his sister Chook Hom, his daughters Barbara Grealish (Kent), Elizabeth Burr (John), granddaughters Makena Burr, Meaghan Grealish Padulo (Domenic), Kaitlin Bringhurst (Zach), Kelly Grealish (Osman Sazci), great-grandchildren James, Beau & Brynn Bringhurst, Julian Sazci, grand dogs Jedi & Halo, and many nieces and nephews.
A private funeral service will be held for the immediate family with a Celebration of Lee's Life planned in early 2025. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the San Mateo County Historical Association [https://historysmc.org/general-donation/] and the Gary Sinise Foundation [www.garysinisefoundation.org].