William "Bill" Lee

William “Bill” Lee, age 90, passed away peacefully from end-stage vascular disease on December 13, 2025, at his home in Tustin, California, while being cared for by his sons Garret and Warren, along with his former spouse and lifelong friend Frances.

Bill was born in Portland, Oregon, the youngest child of Lee Soon (Harry Lee) and Hum Sue Ling (Sue Lin Lee), both immigrants from Guangzhou, China. Raised in Portland, he was a proud Oregonian and remained deeply connected to the city and the state throughout his life.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University and later an MBA from UCLA, where he fondly recalled watching Coach Wooden’s national championship basketball team for just twenty-five cents.

Bill proudly served his country in the U.S. Army and was stationed at the Yuma Test Station in Arizona. He was active duty from 1958 and honorably discharged in 1960; he always liked to mention how he and Elvis were in the army together. His duties included disarming “Little John” missiles that had misfired, as well as handling explosives and cryogenics at Atlas missile sites. He was

Bill enjoyed a long and distinguished career in engineering, aerospace, and defense-related industries. His professional life included work with General Dynamics, Douglas Aircraft (later McDonnell Douglas), Westinghouse, and Boeing. He held roles spanning engineering, contracts, logistics, financial management, and program planning.

Over the years, he lived in Tennessee, Spokane Washington, San Diego, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Santa Monica, and Costa Mesa. He often joked about having lived in Pacific Palisades at the same time as President Reagan.

Tennessee was where a few worlds merged for Bill. He landed a financial management role for a nuclear power plant in development, the Clinch River Breeder Reactor. Coincidentally, his brother Robert was a professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, so the two Lee brothers were able to be neighbors before their lives took them to different parts of the world, with Robert becoming a missionary in Asia and Bill continuing his aerospace carreer in California.

While working in the Knoxville area, Bill met Frances Wilson who was working as a switchboard operator at Westinghouse after graduating from East Tennessee State University. During the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville Bill loved going, attending over a dozen times, sometimes with Frances.

They dated and Bill encouraged her to progress her career, and she went on to get a graduate degree from Western Kentucky State University at Bowling Green. Eventually, they married in Tennessee and Frances moved from her home state to start a family in Southern California.

His work took him across the country on major national projects, including missile systems, avionics, and nuclear power initiatives, before he ultimately settled in Orange County, California.

A confident and skilled driver, Bill especially loved winding back roads and long highway drives. He had driven across the country multiple times, and knew the best stops along the freeways from Tustin, CA to Portland, OR. He enjoyed visiting and photographing covered bridges and estimated that he had driven more than one million miles without an injury or accident.

He often recalled a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco on which a Boeing 737 lost an engine and was forced to dump fuel for an hour before making a one-engine emergency landing back at LAX. Ever the aviation expert, Bill calmly reassured nervous passengers that one engine is all a plane needs to land safely.

Bill was preceded in death by his brother, Robert Lee (2016), and his sister, Jean Pefley Hawley (2024). He is survived by his two sons, Garret Lee of Tustin, California, and Warren LeeBoucher (wife Andi) of Los Angeles; his sister, Florence Guimary of West Linn, Oregon; his sister-in-law, Nancy Lee of Madison, Wisconsin (Robert’s widow); one niece, Suelyn Swiggum (husband Doug) of Fitchburg, Wisconsin; and five nephews: Stuart Guimary of West Linn, Oregon; David Pefley (wife Mona) of Los Altos Hills, California; Norman Pefley (wife Emma) of San Francisco, California; Steven Lee of Arlington, Massachusetts; and Bobby Meyer-Lee (wife Elaine) of Baltimore, Maryland.

In accordance with Bill’s wishes, he was flown to Portland, Oregon, and laid to rest at Willamette National Cemetery, the closest military cemetery to his parents. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held in Portland in Spring 2026, around the time he would have celebrated his 91st birthday.

Bill will be remembered for his sharp mind, independence, kindness, and enduring devotion to his family.