Richard J. Lee, Ph.D., age 88, of Mentor for the past 4 years and formerly of St. Louis, MO, Tucson, AZ and Downers Grove, IL, passed away Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at Hospice House in Cleveland.  He was born May 26, 1919 in Tsinan, China.

Richard was a retired senior research scientist from BP (formerly Amoco).  He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a 60-year emeritus member of the American Chemical Society. He was a chemist, poet, artist and scholar.

Richard graduated from Loyola University, Chicago, IL, did graduate work in chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN and earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from The Ohio State University.

Survivors are his wife of 67 years, Isabelle (nee Luan) of Mentor; daughter, Carol (Warren) Duane of Mentor; daughter, Barbara (Robert) Schnaible of St. Louis; son Noel of Illinois; grandchildren, Rosanne Duane of Jupiter FL, Elizabeth Duane of Phoenix, AZ; Jacqueline (Brian) Bub of High Ridge, Mo; Kara (Jason) Jones of St. Louis; Debbie (Chris) Tate of St. Louis; Debbie (Daron) VanZuiden of Bettendorf, IA and Robin (Greg) Saklar of LeClaire, IA; and 11 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a grandson, James A. Lee.

Contributions may be made in his memory to Project Seed or the ACS Scholars Program care of the American Chemical Society, Development Office, 1155 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036 or give online at www.acs.org/giving.