Herbert Lee, patron of arts, businessman
B. Herbert Lee, 92, a businessman and philanthropist and grandson of the founder of the former Lee Tire & Rubber Co., died of respiratory failure Tuesday, April 19, at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne.
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B. Herbert Lee, 92, a businessman and philanthropist and grandson of the founder of the former Lee Tire & Rubber Co., died of respiratory failure Tuesday, April 19, at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne.
Mr. Lee lived in Haverford and Bryn Mawr before retiring to Waverly Heights in 2008. He also maintained a winter home in Delray Beach, Fla.
His family was once well-known as the largest employer in Conshohocken, according to the records of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. His grandfather J. Ellwood Lee created the tire manufacturing operation in 1912 as a spin-off from his J. Ellwood Lee Chemical Co., a maker of medical supplies that merged with Johnson & Johnson in 1905.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Lee Tire had 600 workers at its factory in Conshohocken. Business boomed for the next 50 years. The elder Lee died in 1914.
His grandson entered the business as Lee Tire's vice president for sales. Hampered by outdated equipment, the firm's fortunes began to fade. Lee Tire was sold to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in 1965, and in 1980 went out of business.
Mr. Lee moved from tires to automobiles, starting Devon Motors, a Volkswagen dealership, at a time when the Beetle was in great demand. After turning over the operation to others, Mr. Lee embarked on a new enterprise as a private investor.
Mr. Lee and his wife, Margery Peterson Lee, connoisseurs of contemporary art, became patrons of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, and the Free Library of Philadelphia.
In 1994, Mr. Lee became a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He and his wife set up a fund to endow the museum's library. "That was our passion," his wife said.
The youngest of three children of Edith Haley and J. Ellwood Lee Jr., Mr. Lee was born in Conshohocken and attended William Penn Charter School.
He served in the Army Signal Corps in World War II and was assigned to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters. Mr. Lee participated in the Allied campaign in northern France and was honorably discharged in April 1946 with the rank of technical sergeant.
After the war, he received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Virginia.
Besides his wife of 54 years, he is survived by son Bradford A.; daughter Barbara K.; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Church of the Redeemer, 230 Pennswood Rd., Bryn Mawr. Entombment will be private.
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