Art Ping Lee 李達平

Mr. Lee was born on May 16, 1914 in Taishan (Toisan), China and grew up in the village of Chen Kai. He came to the United States in 1936 where he was able to establish his own laundry business. His first laundry was at 2423 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, DC. He later expanded to a bigger size laundry which he named Toy’s Laundry at 1721 9th St NW in the Shaw neighborhood.

During the WW2 period, Mr. Lee worked at the Naval shipyard in Delaware as a welder on U.S. battleships. He was very proud to have reached the title of “number one welder”. Upon his return to Washington, DC after the war, he played an instrumental part in bringing many of the Chinatown organizations together to work in harmony with each other and bring about an existence of tranquility in the community.

In the Spring of 1947 Mr. Lee returned to Taishan and married the love of his life, Sau Ching Lee. They returned to the U.S. together in 1949 and raised a family of six children, 2 boys and 4 girls. Eventually Mr. Lee retired from the laundry business and together with several partners established a most famous restaurant named The Golden Palace in DC’s Chinatown.

In addition to his work and raising a family, Mr. Lee was heavily involved in the Chinatown community where his knowledge, wisdom and leadership qualities over the years earned him great respect and admiration not just in the DMV but throughout many Chinatown communities across the U.S. and overseas. In 1939 he was one of four original founders of the Chinese Youth Club of which he spoke fondly without fail. The CYC began with 20 members and today has over 200 active and alumni participants engaged in volleyball, basketball and Chinese lion dance. Mr Lee was CYC’s leader and will always be remembered as such.

Art Ping Lee is survived by his wife, Sau Ching Lee; sons Wallace, Lawrence (Sandy); daughters Louise, Beverly (Robert Moscovitz), Penney (Hau Mai); seven grandchildren, Vanessa (Cliff Tamorria), Victoria (Mike Nguyen), Brandon, Nicolette (Tyler Amaker), Sienna, Hali, Olivia; five great grandchildren, Makena, Elizabeth, Madison, Maxwell, Carter; many nieces and cousins; preceded in death, daughter Madeline Lee (son Brandon) and son-in-law Bob Pennington (Louise).

On Sunday, October 11, 2020, friends can pay their respects in person from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20904.

On Monday, October 12, 2020, friends can pay their respects from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the St. Andrew Apostle Catholic Church, 11600 Kemp Mill Road, Silver Spring, MD 20902. All friends are welcomed to attend the funeral service which is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Interment will follow the funeral service at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 13801 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20906. NOTE: The burial service will be private for family and relatives only.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions can be made to either The Lee Family or to the Chinese Youth Club in memory of Art Ping Lee. Mailing address is 7233 Deer Lake Lane, Derwood, MD 20855.