William Charles Lee

The Honorable William C. Lee, sitting senior judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District died peacefully on January 20, 2024. Judge Lee has been woven into the fabric of Fort Wayne, Indiana since his birth on February 2, 1938. He attended Franklin school, visited cousins on the farm, delivered newspapers, and rode a much desired bicycle along Fort Wayne’s shaded streets. He loved this city and dedicated his life serving it.

Bill was a boisterous and opinionated kid, so much so that his teachers decided it might help settle him down if he skipped a grade. Skipping third grade, he joined a fourth grade class where he met Judy Bash, who would become a friend and partner for life. A proud graduate of Northside High School in 1955, he continued to contribute to education in Fort Wayne throughout his life. He was a founding member of the Northside Alumni Association, the first alumni association for a public high school in the state. In 1984, he helped found the Fort Wayne Community Schools Scholarship fund with a generous donation from his uncle. Until 2023 he enjoyed reading the scholarship applications and was always impressed by the wonderful students and the level of education they received in FWCS. In 2023, after the death of his beloved son Mark, he also contributed to and renamed the Lee Family Scholarship Fund to the Mark R. Lee Memorial scholarship fund. Bill served on the FWCS school board and as its president during the 1970s.

Judge Lee attended Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School, attending both universities on full scholarships, graduating in 1959 and 1962 respectively. He married Judy Bash on September 19, 1959, and they had three children, Catherine, Mark, and Richard. This family was the center and joy of his life. He was happily married to Judy until her death on July 4, 2019.

Lee was humble and self-effacing about his legal career which spanned sixty-two years. After law school, he shared space with some lawyers and hung out a shingle. He served as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Allen County starting in 1963 and then as Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney from January 1967 to September 1969. He was nominated as United States District Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana at age 31 and served from March 6, 1970 to May 7, 1973.

On July 28, 1981, President Ronald Reagan made Judge Lee his first appointment to the federal bench where he served from August 19, 1981 onward. Between 1997 and 2003, he served as chief judge of the court, and assumed senior status on February 3, 2003. He loved his work, the law, and held compassion and respect for everyone he encountered as a Judge.

During his practice as a trial lawyer, he won awards, wrote books, provided legal education to practicing lawyers, and provided legal services to those in need.

In his personal life, Judge Lee was an advocate of the arts serving on multiple boards, including Fort Wayne Ballet and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. He enjoyed performing in stage plays and musicals. He was active in Trinity English Lutheran church, singing in the choir for 35 years, coaching basketball and writing the church history.

His love of this community is perhaps exemplified by his support of the Allen County Historical Society, which included serving as president of the board for two terms. He was a regular sponsor of the Buffalo Tro and the Gingerbread Festival.

Judge Lee cared deeply about the environment. As the US District Attorney, before the EPA or the Clean Water Act, he used an obscure law, the 1899 Refuse Act, to sue several local water polluters. He also successfully sued US Steel and DuPont Steel in Hammond, Indiana to prevent them from continuing to dump toxic waste in Indiana waterways. These efforts led to him winning the Izaak Walton League’s national conservation award in 1972. He loved tromping the woods around the family cottage in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan and tromping the woods of his farm in Steuben County. Just a few years ago, he donated land and a pond on the farm to the Acres Land trust creating The Lee Family Perfect Lake Nature Preserve.

Bill loved life, family, the community and having fun. He loved the Tin Caps and the Wizards before them. He loved seeing plays and art in New York City, at the Shakespeare festival in Stratford, Niagara on the Lake, and Chautauqua Lake. He was as happy seeing Beethoven performed at the Embassy as he was seeing Warren Zevon at Piere’s. He had a great sense of humor and a booming laugh. He will be deeply missed by family, friends and colleagues.

Judge Lee was deeply kind, charitable, helpful, dedicated, intelligent, funny, and loving. He is survived by his daughter Catherine, daughter-in-law Jan, son Richard (Sally), and granddaughters Katie and Carly.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, March 1, 2024 at 1pm at Trinity English Lutheran Church, 450 W. Washington Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN 46802.

In remembrance of William Lee’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne’s Mark Lee Memorial Scholarship, The Allen County Fort Wayne Historical Society, and Stillwater Hospice.