Leslie Lee was born youngest of seven siblings in Markle, Indiana, in 1920, and grew up in a family ancestral home in Ladoga, Indiana, begun as a log cabin in 1832. He graduated from Wabash College in 1942. WWII detoured his intended graduate studies in plant pathology at Cornell to an Army post in Greenland where he collected glacier mosses when not on duty and sent them back to Wabash. The Army trained him as a medical technologist in charge of laboratories. As a T-3 he crossed Utah Beach at Normandy, going on to set up and run the Medical Laboratories for hospitals in Paris and Berlin, as those cities were liberated. He received a Croix de Guerre from the French government for exceptional work against infectious diseases. He remained in Berlin in Civil Service in order to marry the attractive French wife he brought back home to Indiana at the time of the Berlin Airlift in 1948.

From 1948 through 1958, he ran hospital laboratories and set up a school to train medical technologists in Illinois.

From 1958 he was Lab Manager for Orange Memorial Hospital in Orlando, Florida, for 21 years, where he set up another school to graduate medical technologists. He served as president of the American Society of Medical Technologists (ASMT), Florida Division for two years as well as on numerous boards in various positions.

Because of problems in the middle of the night with laboratory instruments, he learned that field well enough to teach repair, and write Elementary Principles of Instruments, which went through four editions as the field evolved, accompanied by workbooks and a teaching device. He was hired as a consultant by the Honeywell Corporation to teach their repair crews the principles behind laboratory instruments. This he would do by flying to various cities during weekends and vacations

In 1979 he was asked to join the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) to help develop certification criteria to include medical laboratories under their umbrella. Thereafter, he was hired to help establish acceptable standards for laboratories. He chose to serve as a surveyor, which included trips to inspect hundreds of American Hospitals across the country, as well as hospitals in Europe and the Middle East. He worked with the JCAH for 17 years, retiring in 1995.

After retirement, though residing in Apopka, Florida, he became more involved in the First Presbyterian Church of Mount Dora, encouraging enlargement of the building and establishment of a preschool, which has grown into an excellent 40-student school. Some of the positions he filled were Elder, nine years as church Trustee, President of Presbyterian Men, besides many annual and ad hoc committees. His motivation involved gratitude for that church community's earlier support during his daughter's terminal illness. After his years of service in different capacities, the church conferred the designation Elder Emeritus.

He enjoyed writing, and, during weekend and evening breaks from the road at a mountain cabin in North Carolina he added two unpublished autobiographical books; the first, entitled The First Time I Saw Paris ended with the war years,. The second included a description of the changes in hospital laboratories during 50 years. He leaves behind his wife of 68 years, Jacqueline and sons Philip and Alan.

A memorial service following burial next to his daughter will be held 1/17/2014, at First Presbyterian Church of Mount Dora, Fla., 222 W. Sixth Ave. 32757. (352)383-4089. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Leslie Lee Memorial Fund at the church (Pastor, Dr. Thomas J. Biery).