Obituary of Richard T. Lee

Richard T. Lee, 70, of Morristown, passed away at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City on Sunday, April 21, 2024. 

Richard was born on January 6, 1954 in Shanghai, China to Albert Lee and Lydia Liu. He was the middle of three children. 

Richard and his family left China during the Cultural Revolution, arriving in the United States in 1970 after spending one year in Hong Kong and five years in Thailand. After graduating from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens, NY, Richard matriculated at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY where he majored in Mathematics and graduated in 1977. Following Cornell, Richard received a Master’s degree in Computer Science from New York University in 1979.

Richard met Virginia, his wife of 36 years, at a tennis party in New Jersey. They married in 1988 and started their family in 1991 with the birth of their son, Jordan, followed by their daughter, Joanna, three years later. 

Richard’s professional career began at Bell Labs, where he spent 10 years working on the cutting edge of technological innovation and developed lifelong friendships. Richard eventually settled into a leadership role as an Engineering Director at BEA Systems, where he led teams of 50-100 engineers. From 2004-2006, he and his family moved to Beijing, China, where Richard helped grow an R&D team. BEA Systems was acquired by Oracle in 2008, where Richard spent the remainder of his career before officially retiring in 2016. 

In retirement, Richard enjoyed playing tennis and pickleball, eating a perfectly cooked steak, and drinking fine wine. He also volunteered with AARP for five years helping individuals prepare their taxes.

Richard was a truly beloved father and husband who was remarkably generous, patient, gentle, and kind. He is survived by his wife Virginia, son Jordan, daughter Joanna, older brother James, younger sister Julie, and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. He will be dearly missed.

All are invited to celebrate Richard's life at Burroughs, Kohr & Dangler Funeral Home at 106 Main Street, Madison, NJ, on Saturday, April 27th from 10AM-2PM. (Parking is available in the lot behind the funeral home. Additional entrances to the parking lot are on Elmer Street and Greenwood Avenue. For those taking public transportation, the funeral home is a 5 minute walk away from the NJ Transit Madison train station.)

The viewing will take place from 10AM-1PM followed by the funeral service from 1-2PM. During the service, friends and family are invited to share their favorite memories of Richard. 

A post-service meal will be held at Noodle Wong (aka Noodle Lee) at 770 US-46, Parsippany, NJ 07054 at 2:30PM. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research (lustgarten.org/donatenow) or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (giving.mskcc.org).