We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing Raymond B. Lee, on August 31, 2025. Raymond was one of the most important benefactors and champions of the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, along with his wife Jean, for whom the museum is named.

The Lees were instrumental in the successful growth of Chicago’s Chinatown through their business ventures, community leadership and philanthropy. Their invaluable support extended to the museum from its inception in 2004, with the donation of the Quong Yick & Co. grocery store building, where CAMOC stands today. Quong Yick, started by Raymond’s great grandfather, held special meaning for Raymond who immigrated to America from Guangdong, at the age of 15, and lived on the third floor.

The Lees’s love and generosity for CAMOC continued throughout the past twenty years. In June 2023, he established a $2M endowment in memory of Jean when she passed on, as a measure to ensure security of the museum’s future, and that its work would stand for generations to come.

Raymond worked seven days a week at Quong Yick through his teen and early college years. While it was expected for all Lee sons to carry on the family businesses, Raymond insisted on attending college, which was the start of his independence. With his unwavering sense of purpose, acute business acumen, and support from Jean, this decision proved a positive contribution to his success.

Raymond’s first business venture was the retail operations of Golden Country Oriental Foods which Jean spent every day working and managing for over 30 years. Its expansion into the wholesale business resulted in it becoming one of the largest importers of Asian, Oriental, Caribbean, and African food products in the US. However, his ventures extended well beyond this business, and Raymond’s efforts built up many aspects of the Chinatown we know today. He was a prolific and strategic planner, and his roles and contributions over the years are many.

As president and chairman of the board of CADC, he fulfilled founder and close friend, Ping Tom’s mission of building Chinatown Square, the largest expansion of Chinatown. Raymond was an elder with the Lee Family Association, and served as an officer on its board and that of the Chinese American Service League.

Raymond was also one of the founders of the Chinatown Parking Corporation (CPC), and as managing director, partnering with Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce (CCCC), two parking lots were established for Chinatown, which has been key to its thriving as a business district. The proceeds from these parking lots continue to be distributed back to support different community organizations around the neighborhood, including CAMOC.

As president of the CCCC, Raymond was also responsible for the iconic Chinese Pagoda and Nine Dragon Wall in Chinatown, implementing new safety measures and regular street cleaning in the neighborhood, along with the first Chinatown Summer Fair, which has now become an annual event welcoming more than 40,000 visitors a year.

Raymond’s numerous roles also included those public office. As the Chicago Park District Commissioner and a member of the Board of Education, he procured funds to build Ping Tom Park and completely renovate the 100-year old Haines School, his alma mater.

Raymond has been recognized with numerous awards including the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, the 2023 Community Visionary Award from the Chinatown Museum Foundation (CMF), the 2012 Outstanding Community Leader Award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance, the 2012 Pan Asian American Ping Tom Memorial Award from the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and the Asian American Coalition of Chicago, the 2010 Philanthropic Award by the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, and the Chicago Senior Citizen Hall of Fame, Luminary Award in 2007.

In 2015, with the assistance of Chuimei Ho, one of CAMOC’s founders and the first president of CMF, Raymond wrote his memoir, Growing Up in Chicago’s Chinatown: The Stories of Raymond Lee.

The CMF family will be forever indebted to the generosity and foresight of Raymond Lee, whose life’s work built up a lasting legacy for not only CAMOC, but for Chicago, the Midwest region, and the Chinese American community at large. Our deepest condolences go to his family.

Please join us in honoring his life and legacy. The wake will be held at Dalcamo Funeral Home, Friday, September 12, from 3 – 8 p.m. Services will be held Saturday, September 13th, at Chinese Christian Union Church at 10 a.m.

To learn more about Raymond’s remarkable life, please see his full obituary: https://www.dalcamofuneralhome.com/obituary/Raymond-Lee