Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Gee Allen 041201 p10
Allen Gee   Feb. 23, 1924 - Nov. 20, 2004
Services are pending for former Patterson resident Allen Gee, 80, who died Nov. 20 in Santa Ana following a brief
illness. Mr. Gee was born in Patterson to Duck Lee and Fong See Gee.  He graduated from Patterson Union High School
in 1941 and began attending University of California, Berkeley, that year to study civil engineering. He joined the US
Army in 1943 and was stationed in Alaska.  When he was discharged in 1846, Mr. Gee returned to Berkeley and
graduated in 1947 with a degree in chemistry. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his
doctorate in physical chemistry in 1951.  After graduation, Mr. Gee worked for national bureau of Standards in
Washington, DC, followed by careers at Dupont and Texas Instruments. In 1961, he started work at Hughes Aircraft in
Newport Beach and retired from there on disability for arthritis and asthma in 1974.  His father, Duck Lee, sought a
better life in the United States, but was unable to enter in 1904, so he left china fro Mexico city. In 1906, after the San
Francisco earthquake, Mr. Lee went to the Bay Area by boat. He opened a laundry in Patterson in 1920.  Mr. Gee was
born in the back room of his parents' hand laundry on Feb. 23, 1924. Mr. Gee, who was an only child, was given the
name Allen after Dr. E.G. Allen, who was Patterson's doctor for many years.  The family operated the laundry until the
business closed in 1948, when Duck Lee and Fong See Gee moved to San Francisco. Mr. Gee could only speak Chinese
when he started school as a first-grader in Patterson, but he soon learn English and excelled in class.   Mr. Gee's
classmate, Virginia Delphia Usadel of Patterson, remembers Mr. Gee from school. "He was very intelligent," Usadel said
this week. "He was one of the top students in the class. Over the years of growing older, though, he completely changed. I
think he came to almost every class reunion we had, although he was a long distance away."  Another classmate,
Patterson resident Sverre Osnes, remembers Gee as a role model.  "Like in his youth, Allen was quiet about his
accomplishments," Osness said. "He was a proud family man, a subject he was more than willing to share. He continually
kept in touch with his classmates and others here in Patterson."  Two years ago Mr. Gee presented his fourth-grade
teacher, Edna Keechler Stewart, with a Diode he helped develop for Doppler radar and that is used in telephones. That
device will be donated to the Patterson Township Historical society.  "He was the smartest child I ever had at school,"
Stewart said this week.  Mr. Gee is survived by his wife of 49 years, Mary Gee; son and daughter-in-law, Everett and
Donna Gee of Laguna Beach; daughter and son-in-law, Beverly and Manu Daftary of Wayland, Mass.; and seven
grandchildren.  Burial will be at Riverside national Cemetery in riverside. Cremation Care, 582 E. Lambert Road, in
Brea, is handling the arrangements.  Memborial donations in Mr. Gee's name may be made to Patterson Recognizing
Individuals Determined to Excel, better know as PRIDE, the local scholarship program for Patterson High School
students. Donations may be made to PRIDE, PO Box 1543, Patterson, CA 95363.