June 21, 2008 — Four-term V.I. Senator Sidney Lee — who was also a philanthropist, businessman, and scientist — died June 19 at the age of 89 at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The cause of death was acute leukemia, according to his children, Candy Lee and Phillip Lee.
As a senator, Lee was vice president of the Thirteenth Legislature and chairman of the Finance Committee. He subsequently served as chairman of finance on the Virgin Islands Port Authority as well as many terms on the Board of Education.
"Sen. Lee was a larger-than-life figure in Virgin Islands politics for several decades," said Delegate Donna M. Christensen. "He was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in the Virgin Islands, serving as vice president of the Legislature and chair of the Finance Committee and as our National Committee man. He consistently gathered the support of all segments of the St. Croix electorate and his philanthropy was well known as a supporter of the arts and of St. Croix youth."
Lee donated to many causes. He gave a portion of the beach at Sandy Point to St. Croix as a public park, and the rest became a national park. He donated the Sidney Lee Theater at Island Center, and donated to Island Center summer camps for youth.
Lee funded a multitude of charitable, educational and philanthropic activities including a playground at St. Croix Country Day School and a sports facility at In Balance Ranch Academy. His Dream Foundation helped a class of Virgin Islanders attend college.
Sidney Lee attended Winona Military Academy where he graduated first in his high school class. Subsequently, he also graduated first in his class from the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in chemical engineering. Pursuing his doctorate at Cornell, he was commandeered to help with the war effort by doing research on jet fuel, which ultimately contributed to American air superiority.
After the war he became involved in business in Texas and in the Virgin Islands. He was president of a consulting laboratory which served as the crime lab for the city of Dallas, and he testified in hundreds of cases. His laboratory also expanded into manufacturing, testing, and certification. He served on the board of directors of American Shipbuilding. He was president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and voted one of the five most outstanding young men of Texas.
First coming to the Virgin Islands in the 1940s, he served as president of the West Indies Investment Company, involved in land development on all three islands and construction. He helped found and served on the board of the Virgin Islands Bank and Trust, whose five branches later became the Chase Manhattan Bank in the Virgin Islands.
He also served as president of the Rotary Club of St. Croix, president of Pelican Cove Condominiums, president of the Jewish Community Center, Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, president of the theater group at Island Center, and he served on the boards of numerous civic and philanthropic organizations.
A Democratic National Committeeman, Lee was a frequent delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and was a delegate to the Virgin Islands constitutional conventions. He was once voted most admired man in the Virgin Islands in a Virgin Islands Daily News poll. In later years he published a column, Lee Lets Loose, in the St. Croix Avis. He received the Humanist Award from the Virgin Islands Humanities Council, an award which “recognizes Virgin Islanders who make an exemplary contribution to the cultural life of the V.I. community through the humanities.”
The senator was living at his home on St. Croix until three weeks ago when he became ill. He is survived by daughter Candy and son Phillip as well as three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on St. Croix later in the year. In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to The Sidney Lee Theatre c/o The Island Center for the Performing Arts, Box 5976, Sunny Isle, Virgin Islands, 00823.
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