Regina Lim Lee was born on Aug. 21, 1961. Her father, Albert Chin Lee, an immigrant from China’s Guangdong province, served within the US Army and later introduced over his partner, Susie, upon finishing his service. They had 4 kids, with Regina being the youngest.
Raymond, the second oldest, recalled a blue-collar upbringing. The household settled within the Seattle space, and the kids went to Franklin High School, from which Regina graduated in 1979. Around that point, her mother and father opened New Gallery Garden Restaurant, a gathering spot for Asian American teenagers that served burgers and steaks and hosted native musicians. The youngsters labored there whereas attending school.
While two of her elder siblings attended the University of Washington, Regina went to beautician faculty, however by no means completed. Instead, she labored as a journey agent and ultimately joined Costco Travel, which the wholesaler began in 2000. She advised her household it was , secure job, permitting her to offer for her mom, who was by then widowed, and with whom she and her older sister, Willa, lived in Everett, Washington.
“Regina was a fun-loving person, who liked to joke around, while Willa was the serious middle child,” Raymond recalled. “Both took care of my mom, and there was nothing for her to worry about.”
At Costco Travel, Regina was an establishment. Having labored there for 20 years, she interacted at one level with virtually everybody within the workplace, whether or not it was sharing a vanpool or leaving them shock candies whereas they had been away. While she not often provided particulars about her private life, she beloved to prepare workplace potlucks and have a good time colleagues’ birthdays to deliver staff out of their cubicles.
On her final day at work, nevertheless, coworkers remembered Regina’s delicate voice and quiet guffawing had been changed by a cough that acquired extra noticeable all through the day. As the calls rolled in from anxious vacationers, Costco saved the brokers crowded in desk pods the place working areas had been lower than 6 ft aside. Some confirmed early signs of COVID-19 — together with fatigue and cough — however nonetheless got here in, hoping to not use trip days to take day without work.
It took a full 24 hours for Costco to inform Regina’s colleagues of how she died, main the corporate to shut the journey workplace for cleansing the day after her demise. By the tip of the week, they had been again at their desks.
“I was so mortified that they didn’t close the office when my friend died,” mentioned the nameless journey worker, who has been with the corporate for greater than a decade. “People kept coming back after that, and it was just so wrong!”
Raymond didn’t discover out Regina had been sick till Willa advised him that she had out of the blue died. Regina had collapsed at dwelling, and though paramedics tried CPR on her, they might revive her. As the particular person whom his sisters referred to as when one thing wanted to be repaired on the home, Raymond felt helpless when he was advised that the home was below quarantine and that he couldn’t go to.
“I always felt like a superhero for the family,” he mentioned. “But this is the one time you can’t help the family out at all.”
Willa, a coaching director at a biomedical firm, developed a 101-degree fever the morning Regina died and was admitted to an intensive care unit seven days later. Two days after Willa arrived on the hospital, her mom, Susie, didn’t reply the door throughout a wellness examine, main paramedics to interrupt in and discover her collapsed on the bottom.
Susie died on March 27, formally of a staph an infection, although a health care provider advised Raymond that coronavirus checks weren’t as much as normal and that she had additionally seemingly contracted the illness. Willa died on March 29, spending her final moments on a ventilator.
Regina and Willa are survived by their brothers, William and Raymond Lee. Susie is survived by her sons William and Raymond, sister Margaret, and brothers Albert, David, Edwin, and James.
This 12 months, there might be no celebrations for Chinese New Year, when the Lee household would historically collect at Regina and Willa’s Everett dwelling. Raymond advised BuzzFeed News in December that he’s social-distancing from his older brother, William, and taking no matter precautions are wanted.
“This is going to be a very lonely year,” he mentioned.
