When the President of Ghana lauded Dr. Robert E. Lee on learning of his death earlier this month, he was inadvertently paying tribute to Lee’s parents.
Lee was one of 12 children, the son of the late Samuel and Emily Lee of Summerville. The elder Lee was a barber in Summerville where he and his wife were active in the Calvary Episcopal Church. All of the couple’s children were successful in a variety of fields including education, medicine, business and technical professions.
A delegation of family and friends informed President John Evans Atta Mills of the death of Dr. Robert Edwards Lee, 90, a Pan Africanist, who died July 5 in Accra.
The late Dr. Lee, who was described as the first person to put up a private dental practice in Ghana, lay in state July 24 followed by a service at the Du Bois Centre in Accra.
“It is fitting and proper to give due recognition to the selfless service of Dr. Lee,” said President Mills in a tribute to the late Dr. Lee.
The President said Dr. Lee was one person who loved Ghana and went round the country with his dental practice. He also often came to Achimota School , President Mills' alma mater, where his wife also had a dental practice, and enjoyed music and concerts.
President Mills said the government of Ghana will give the late Dr. Lee the due recognition, and extended condolence to Lee’s family.
Dr. Esi Sutherland-Addy, of the Institute of African Studies, Legon, who led the delegation, said the late Dr. Lee, an expatriate, arrived in Ghana , then Gold Coast, in 1953, and finally settled in Ghana in 1956.
According to Dr. Sutherland-Addy, Dr. Lee had the pride of being a Pan Africanist, and worked quietly in the background pushing the image of Ghana.