Lily Soo Lee's Obituary
Lily S. Lee (Takei) Obituary
March 28, 1948 - November 7, 2024
Lily S. Lee (Takei), known to many of her friends as “Sam Lee”, died of a heart attack on November 7, 2024.
Lily was born in San Francisco, California on March 28, 1948 to Sim Wong Lee and Gar Quon Lee from Canton (Guangdong) province in China. Lily’s mother immigrated to the United States as a ‘War Bride’ with Lily’s three older siblings while pregnant. Lily was born shortly after they arrived in San Francisco. The family joined Lily’s grandfather and father who had previously settled and operated a restaurant in Lewiston, Idaho. Lily’s two younger sisters were born in Lewiston.
Growing up in Lewiston, Lily worked in the family restaurant with her parents and siblings. She moved to San Francisco, California in 1969 where she worked at AT&T as a telecoms engineer, one of the few women to do so in the 1970s. She met her husband Richard Takei in the Bay Area through friends and they were married in 1978. After the break-up of the Bell System in 1983, she moved to Laurel, Maryland to work at Bell Atlantic. Richard was working in Washington, DC at the time. Lily retired from AT&T and moved back to California in 1991.
Lily and Richard have one daughter, Sandy. Lily devoted much of her time to supporting Sandy’s education, volunteering at her school, while also taking classes at Contra Costa College and California State University, Hayward (now CSU East Bay) where she completed dual Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Human Development. At Contra Costa College, Lily tutored many international students in English as an Additional Language (EAL) over the years who stayed in touch and remained good friends. Lily loved learning and education, she had recently been auditing classes at University of California, Berkeley through their UC Extension program.
Lily, Richard and Sandy are members of Sycamore Congregational Church in El Cerrito. As a family they often volunteered at various church events including the Annual Bazaar, Rummage Sale and Bible Day Camp. Lily was active in Sycamore’s Women’s Fellowship. In addition, she enjoyed volunteering and having lunch with her friends at the North Berkeley Senior Center.
Lily was preceded in death by her brothers Gorden and Jackie; and sisters Winnie and Betty. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Shirley and John; and sisters-in-law Penny and Theresa. She left behind her husband, Richard, and her daughter and son-in-law, Sandy and Mark.
Memorial services will be announced at a future date.
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