James William Lee

James William Lee, a proud veteran of the United States Navy devoted 22 years of service and devoted husband father passed away peacefully in Maryland on October 31, 2025, at the age of 103.

Born on July 25, 1922, in New York to the late James and Anna R. (Tesch) Lee, in Bellevue Hospital. James lived a long and fulfilling life marked by service, faith, and love for his family.

After attending Holy Name school in New York, Irish Christian Brothers High School, and graduating from Strauber Muller High School, James answered the call to serve his country and enlisted in the US Navy in May 1942. His distinguished military career spanned more than two decades, taking him to Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, Naples, Italy, and Villa, France, taking him to stations around the world during the service, he proudly served on three Naval war ships, including the USS Greenwich Bay, USS Oberon, and USS Salem and earned numerous honors such as the National Defense Service Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon, and three battle stars, in the Mediterranean. He retired from the Navy on November 8, 1963, and went on to continue his commitment to public service through a successful career in the federal government and the Navy Historical Society since 1986.

On April 24, 1953, while stationed overseas in Naples, Italy, James married the love of his life, Ada Amalia (de Tommaso) Lee, in Zürich, Switzerland together they build a beautiful life filled with laughter, devotion, and cherished family traditions. He was a loving father to two sons, Anthony John Lee and James Robert Lee.

James grew up in the Catholic faith and was baptized at the Church of the Guardian Angels on August 20, 1922. Throughout his life, he remained guided by faith and gratitude.

He lived in Naples, Italy, Nice, France, Newport, Rhode Island, Anacostia, Oxon Hill, and Clinton, Maryland. James enjoyed the simple pleasures that reflected is down-to-earth nature: playing golf, fishing the Patuxent River, Chesapeake Bay, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, especially treasured taking his boys to the movies on the military base and grilling in his backyard, creating memories to live on in their hearts, woodworking in his shed and workshop, plastic model making, ships, swimming, playing and watching golf, and doing crossword puzzles, watching baseball, movies on Netflix, his friends (Admiral James Holloway, Captain Ken Coskey, golf partners Colonel Joe Morrissey and Roger). James was proceeded in death by his beloved wife Ada, his parents and all his siblings. He survived by his two sons, James Robert Lee and Anthony John Lee.