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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, November 21, 2002

Randall H. Lee, retailer of appliances, dead at 54

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Small-business man Randall "Randy" H. Lee, president of Chock's TV and Appliance, will be remembered at services at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Honolulu.

Lee, 54, of Honolulu, died Nov. 11, 2002, after a courageous fight against cancer, as he underwent chemotherapy in an effort to qualify for a bone marrow transplant. He was also brave in business, maneuvering the family company to compete with the onslaught of big-box retailers that have made huge inroads in the appliance and electronics fields.

Lee grew up in the family business under the tutelage of his father, William "Bill" Wai Lum Lee, and joined the business full time in 1967 after attending Roosevelt High School.

"But it was not a cushy thing," Chock's business consultant Kevin Martin said yesterday. "His father had very high expectations, and Randy did everything in the business, driving the delivery truck, unloading merchandise, keeping track of inventory."

Lee also picked up his father's insistence on providing a solution for any customer who had a problem. "If there was merchandise that the supplier had dropped, and the customer was upset, Randy could defuse even the most difficult situations," Martin said.

He was "actually too nice for business," said longtime friend and former Chock's employee Vernon Chong. "He was such a nice guy that I think he always had the urge to give in to a customer asking for a lower price."

Away from the store, Chong said, Lee was young at heart, participating in as many activities as he could — body-surfing with his children, collecting and tending tropical fish for aquariums at home and at the store, and collecting pocket watches.

Diagnosed earlier this year with lymphoma, Lee was hopeful of getting a bone-marrow transplant, even though that would have given him only a 50 percent chance of living another five years, Chong said. "The handwriting was on the wall, but he faced his illness with a lot of dignity and grace. He would always ask about the other people at the hospital, asking how they were that day, and encouraging them to have a good attitude," Chong said.

Lee is survived by his wife, Mi Wha (Vivian); son, Matthew, and daughter, Sara Ann; his father, and his mother, Mildred Lau Lee; and his sister, Sue Ann.

Visitation begins at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at Diamond Head Mortuary, with services at 11 a.m. and burial to follow. Casual attire is requested.