Tribute shared by Keith Chan, PhD, LMSW, Associate Professor, Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, City University of New York, and Co-Investigator, Rutgers-NYU Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity

Don. B. Lee, board chair of Homecrest Community Services (HCS) and a member of the Community Advisory Board of the Rutgers/NYU Center for Asian Health Promotion and Equity, passed away on May 6^th while vacationing in South America with his family. He was 65 years old. Services were held on Sunday, May 19^th at Wan Shou Funeral Home in Brooklyn and on Wednesday, May 22^nd at the Trinity Church in Manhattan, where more than 300 people gathered to honor his memory as a leader in the community. Those who attended recalled his kindness, generosity, and dedication to the most vulnerable in the AAPI community in New York City. Don spoke out against anti-Asian racism before and during the COVID pandemic, and was instrumental in providing a voice for many Asian American older adults and families who were neglected and mistreated by the social welfare and justice system. His passing was commemorated by political leaders in the New York City and New York State Legislature, the New York Governor’s office, and the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as community leaders across neighborhoods from the five boroughs of New York.

When I first met Don 34 years ago in 1990, he was one of the chief instructors at the White Crane Kung Fu School on Canal Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Over time, Don became a mentor to me not just in martial arts but also in how to navigate a world that was so inextricably different from that of my immigrant parents. When I graduated from high school as a first generation high school graduate and salutatorian, Don came to the ceremony at Lincoln Center and sat with my mother, translating my speech to her and taking us to lunch afterwards to celebrate. This was characteristic of Don and how generous he was with his heart to everyone around him. He never forgot his own struggles when his father passed away before he turned 18. He survived while working as a waiter and cook in Chinatown, completing his education at NYU and then working at the Mayor’s office. Don inspired me and many others to work towards the greater good, and he is a big part of the reason why I am a social work professor today at the Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work. A few weeks before his passing, I was texting him about planning a visit to Albany to advocate for Asian American mental health and the needs of older adults in the Chinatown community. I believe he is looking out for us somewhere out there, cheering us on as we take up the torch to continue fighting the good fight.

Don is survived by his wife Lai and his daughter Victoria. He is remembered in loving memory by his many friends far and wide. His family have announced a memorial fund in Don’s name, with all donations benefitting Homecrest Community Services.