School board trustee succumbs to cancer

First-term NPA school trustee Don Lee died on the weekend, following a battle with cancer.

Lee, who was born in China and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1949, earned a bachelor of science from UBC in 1960, completed his teacher training at the Ontario College of Education, then taught mathematics and physics for 31 years--the last 26 years at Templeton Secondary.

Lee was elected to the school board in 2005, landing in second place with 54,868 votes. Prior to that he served as a city councillor between 1996 and 2002. He lost his 2002 bid for a council seat before running successfully for a trustee seat.

Lee headed the school board's management coordinating committee, but has been absent from meetings over the past few months due to his illness. Although colleagues divvied up his duties, he stayed involved with school issues.

Lee took calls from parents, particularly Chinese-speaking ones, and often dealt with the Chinese media. School board chairman Clarence Hansen said he didn't realize how much Lee did until he became ill and Hansen began fielding hundreds of his calls and had to deal with those parents' concerns. "But [Lee] was even trying to get them help from his home when he was ill," Hansen said. "I would say that his biggest legacy would be he taught us about service and to service individuals, not just big groups, and that when individuals needed help you had to be there for them."

Both Lee and Hansen lived on the East Side and attended Strathcona elementary, although Lee was older. Their wives also knew each other. Lee was active in Chinese issues,

The pair of politicians got to know each other better as members of the NPA when Lee was elected to city council and Hansen to the parks board. "He was very astute and he really knew the Chinese community, so if you wanted to be a politician and you wanted to know how to communicate with the Chinese community, it was Don who you talked to," he said. "He was always organizing and heading up meetings with various Chinese groups so we could get to know them and they could get to know us."

Trustee Ken Denike, another NPA colleague, knew Lee well. Denike said Lee often acted as an ambassador for the school district to Chinese delegations that arrived in Vancouver. "He gave us a kind of lustre that maybe otherwise we wouldn't have had," Denike said. "He was quite easygoing and you could kid him. Math was the only thing you couldn't kid him on. You could not, he was just so dedicated to the quality of mathematics that there was no room for joking there."

Becky Maruno, a business education teacher at Templeton, recalls Lee being respected for his knowledge of math. "He was a dedicated teacher. He was never away, he was always here. He was methodical and patient and always had time to help students," she said. "He was quiet but very respected for his knowledge of math. We've for sure produced excellent math students over the years."

Lee projected a professional image, always wearing a suit. "Now teachers wear their jeans or are very casual. But he always had his jacket on," Maruno said.

Geoff Low, another teacher in Templeton's business education department, also remembers Lee as a well-respected math teacher with high standards. His one quirk was erasing the blackboard one line at a time from one end to the other. "It was just a little unusual, but it was his approach. Of course it brought a smile to students' faces.

Maruno agreed. "If you were to ask kids what do you remember about Don Lee, it was the way he erased the blackboard," she said. "Most teachers go up and down and they do one little section and then they go on to the next section. He would go right across and then back."

Templeton principal Chris Atkinson called Lee "a quintessential model citizen."

"He was always supportive of Templeton and sensitive to our community," Atkinson said. "He was here a lot. He liked, supported and valued the relationship with Templeton."

Mayor Sam Sullivan called Lee a great public servant, a trusted adviser and a good friend. "We can all be inspired by Don's legacy of community service and his unwavering effort to help those less fortunate," he said in a press release. "Don has set a standard of public service that we can all strive to achieve."

Aside from being a trustee and city councillor, Lee was a director for the Greater Vancouver Regional District between 1999 and 2002, a member of the Red Cross Chinese Advisory Group, Lower Mainland Region, on the Canadian Cancer Society's Chinese Advisory Committee, a member of the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver and served on the National Congress of Chinese Canadians.

He received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal. Lee and his wife Sally had three children and he was grandfather to five. City hall planned to recognize Lee's service at a council meeting this week.

It's unclear whether it will trigger a byelection considering a civic election is slated for November.