Justin CK Lee 李灼權

Visitation and funeral service for Justin Lee will be held at Hilllcrest Memorial Park Chapel (9101 Kern Canyon Road, Bakersfield CA) on Thursday April 12, 2018 from 12:00pm followed by a graveside service. Details of a post service luncheon in honor of Justin Lee will be announced at the service. Justin Chuck Kuen Lee (Chinese Name: 李灼權) was born in Enping Guangdong China (恩平 廣東省 中國) September 01 1931. He passed away unexpectedly while on a trip in China on March 20, 2018. Details with Justin’s early childhood years are unclear at the writing of this obituary but we do know he was cared for and loved by his mother and many family members in Enping. He was one of three siblings. One of whom passed away in China at a very young age. His mother also passed away in China when he was quite young.

After the end of World War II around 1945 or 1946 when Justin was a teenager, he relocated to Hong Kong. One of the schools he attended was St. Paul’s Co-ed school (SPCC) 聖保羅男女中學. At SPCC, he met some of his best friends and those special five friends remained close for more than 70 years. He was always thankful for having these four friends (Albert Chan, George Mok, Thomas Shin, Jimmy Chan). Justin was good student, good in math, and sang in the chorus. He always had great memory of things even well into his eighties. He was punctual and responsible. It wouldn’t be out of the question to state that Justin have never been late to an appointment willfully and not tried to live up to his side of an agreement. In 1959, Justin married Grace CM Wong. They had two kids Andrew and Lydia. Justin worked at The Treasury Department of the Hong Kong government before immigrating to the United States in 1970. One of his long-time wishes was to reunite with his father Cecil Lee, brother Dale Lee, grandmother Ho Chun Ng, aunt Ngun Ying Lee, and many other relatives that had immigrated to the United States. As with many other immigrants, Justin just wanted to provide the hope of a bright future for his family in the United States. Changing from a government office job in Hong Kong to working in a restaurant kitchen was not an easy task especially during the blistering hot summer months in Bakersfield. Changes in life style in a foreign place was too much for their marriage. Justin and Grace divorced in 1972. After meeting Belinda Tam in 1974, they married shortly after. He remained resident of Bakersfield totaling 48 years. He spent most of those years working 12 hours days at his family owned Rice Bowl Restaurant on 18th Street. He really enjoyed all the special relationships he made there with employees, customers, and vendors. It was a big part of his life. He was always proud to work there and to contribute as a part owner. He wanted to continue the successful business his father and family started since the 1950s. Rice Bowl had always been a key contributor to the Chinese community in Bakersfield. Because of that, he became active in the historic Ying On Association especially at the Bakersfield branch where he served as branch president. He made a lot of special friends from Ying On because of his contribution to the Chinese community. Justin loved his family. He was a husband, a father, a grandfather, and became a great grandfather in 2017. Although he couldn’t spend a lot of time with his son, daughter, and grandchildren, he always loved them in his own special ways. He was proud of them and they were always in his thoughts. He is survived by his wife Belinda; son Andrew and wife Lin; daughter Lydia and husband Thomas; grandchildren Derrick and wife Chrystal, Nicholas, Mei, Ethan, and Aaron; great-grandchild Addie; brother Dale and wife Lucille; and many more relatives and friends. Justin loved taking care of his fruit trees in the garden. He was especially proud of his pomelo trees (沙田柚) and special persimmon trees and liked sharing them. For leisure and vacations, Justin and Belinda enjoyed traveling. He was always interested to share their travel adventures to many parts of the world.

Justin had a special strength within him through some of the toughest challenges in his lifetime. He was able to face adverse situation with grace and humility. Such as when he was facing serious illnesses and had to have many surgeries and treatments. Amazing strength and willingness to endure and still able to keep a smile with positive outlook. The Chinese character 忍 always had special meanings to him. Justin will forever have a special place in our hearts and will be greatly missed. Special thanks to Dr. Edmund Tsoi, Dr. Sandys Tang, Andrew Tam and family, and especially Dr. Derald Seid for being amazing special doctors and friends.