Person

Lee, King

• Lee, Thung

[1877]-1946

LEE King (LEE Thung) was born in [廣東 Guangdong] province around 1877. He left China as a teenager, arriving in Vancouver in 1894. After two years working in the city, he went east, working as a merchant in the Brantford-Hamilton area of Ontario. After six successful years, King entered the dining and restaurant business in Chatham, opening his first cafe ‘The Royale’ which he ran for six years. Departing Chatham for Windsor in 1911, King continued in the restaurant industry with the ‘The Savoy’ located on Sandwich Street West. This was a very successful business serving both the community and visitors passing through Windsor.

Around this time, King returned to China to marry Lily Wong. In 1915, he returned to Windsor with Lily and she became one of the first Chinese women in the Windsor-Detroit area.

After 8 years running ‘The Savoy,’ King sold the restaurant and opened ‘King’s Cafe’ on Pitt Street. This was less successful and closed after four years. Reflecting on his career to a reporter for the Windsor Star, King said, “At times it was a hard struggle.”

In the meantime, King’s family grew with sons Alfred (b. 1915), Peter (b. 1919), Edward (b. 1921), Ben (b. 1924), and daughter May (b. 1926). In 1919, the Detroit News reported his oldest three were the only Chinese children along the Ontario-U.S. border.

For his children, King said “I want them to be good citizens, an honour and credit to the land of my adoption, and the land of their birth.”

After achieving his own success, King was influential in establishing the Chinese Benevolent Association of Windsor, supporting the growing Chinese community of the border areas. He became president of the local branch of the Chinese Nationalist Association (Kuomintang) in 1924, as well as an executive of the Border Cities Association in 1925.

Always looking for a new opportunity, King sold ‘King’s Cafe,’ and leased ‘The Lincoln House’ on Ouellette Avenue. However, the Depression began and he lost everything. At home, he added another child, Jimmy (b. 1929) and became an executive of the entire Eastern Canada Division of the Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang) Party in 1931.

In 1932, King entered business again with the ‘Imperial House’ on the corner of Riverside Drive and Ferry Street. It was later named Imperial Tavern. This business was a bar/tavern that served liquor and food on one level, and a hotel on the upper level. As his children grew older, they helped run the business.

During WWII, King’s sons Peter, Edward, and Ben went overseas. When they returned, their father was very ill. King died November 29, 1946. Despite the drizzling rain, his funeral in Windsor was attended by hundreds from both the Chinese and non-Chinese communities and was reported in the newspapers. King lay in state, flanked by the Union Jack and the Kuomintang flag of China, surrounded by “a solid bank of flowers, far too many of them to be carried by the procession afterwards.” His funeral procession, led by a brass band, was attended by the Windsor CBA members and his pallbearers included a local Member of Parliament and the Mayor of Windsor.

After King’s death, Peter, Ben and Jimmy continued with the hotel/tavern business, while Alfred emigrated to Boston. Edward opened his own business, the Edgewater Marine, in Windsor.

Many of King Lee’s descendants and extended family still reside in the Windsor area.

Lee, Ben (1924-1993)

Lee, Alfred ([1915]-1956)

Lee, Peter (1919-1992)

Lee, Edward (1921-2012)

Wong Shee (wife of King Lee) (1895-1972)

Description supplied by collector/curator