Elwood "Bud" John Lee

Elwood “Bud” John Lee

November 6, 1946 – September 4, 2023

Bud was born on November 6, 1946, in Caledonia, Minnesota. As a 10lb baby, he was a gentle giant from the start as the fifth of six children born to Orvin and Stella (Houge) Lee. Bud had two sisters, Louane (Lou) and Naomi (Jeannie), and three brothers, Carlton, Gerald, and Robert (Bobby), who preceded him in death. He was raised in Houston, Minnesota, and graduated from Houston High School in 1964 in a class of 43 with several athletic and scholastic awards; he played football, basketball, and baseball, and even acted in school plays.

Bud graduated from Minneapolis Business College in December 1965 after his older sister, Jeannie, encouraged him to become a “male secretary.” When no one would hire him because he was of draft age, he enlisted in the Army and went to basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In July 1966, Bud deployed to Vietnam and served as administrative support at HQ Military Assistance Command. When his father died in December 1966, he went home and was discharged in 1967 to take care of his mother, Stella. Bud eventually moved to Modesto, California, where his sister, Lou, and his mother had landed.

Bud graduated from California State University, Stanislaus, in 1972, thanks to the G.I. Bill, with a degree in business administration. He applied for work within the California State government which took him to Sacramento where he met his late wife, Diane (Rath), working in the same unit. They eloped on March 23, 1975, and had two children: Erica Lindsay and Ethan John.

In the 1970s, Bud was part of the workforce that grew what Californians now know as MediCal. Because of his hard work, he was headhunted and eventually became the President of the California Association of Catholic Hospitals. Though not Catholic himself, the nuns and bishops regarded him greatly, and in this position, he developed the transformative health planning law enacted in 1994 as Senate Bill 697 which required private non-profit hospitals report on the community benefits they provide and further required those hospitals to assess the health needs of their respective communities and to develop plans for addressing priority needs in collaboration with the community.

He would earn a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and would later become appointed by California Governor Gray Davis as Chief Deputy Director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development from which he retired in 2004. Bud then donated a majority of the suits, ties, and shoes he had accumulated during his distinguished career in healthcare administration to paroling men at Folsom State Prison. Two months later, Diane was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer, and he became her biggest and proudest supporter for the duration of her eight-year treatment. She passed in 2011.

In his retirement, Bud was a voracious reader and woodworker. He delighted in making Christmas ornaments and other decorations that Diane would artistically paint and then give to family and friends. Later, he discovered a love of making pens from wood and acrylic on a lathe and could often be found by neighbors and friends in his garage making pens for each niece, nephew, and their kids. He also built a large deck at his family’s second home in Citrus Heights, California, and many bookcases and one mantle. In his much later years when he decided to retire from woodworking, he donated most of his tools and supplies to Erica and Ethan’s alma mater’s shop teacher at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks, California.

Bud also really enjoyed researching his Norwegian heritage -- Uff da! He also reconnected with many classmates in Houston, Minnesota, when the Houston Hurricanes started to garner national interest with a winning football team.

Next to his children, he was most proud of his work with Sacramento Stand Down, an organization that acts as a support network to Sacramento area homeless veterans. Since 2006, he was a Board member and inspiration to those around him as a Vietnam veteran who had experienced Agent Orange exposure resulting in amputations. He never let it bring him down. In 2014, the organization named a part of their establishment Camp Bud Lee.

Bud remained interested in public policy and politics until the very end, emailing his children numerous articles and texts daily about domestic issues. He inspired his children to become involved in public service and in their communities: Erica has worked for the California and Washington State governments, on numerous political campaigns and in Washington, DC, and volunteers for many organizations empowering the most marginalized and underrepresented in our society, and Ethan has worked for the Social Security Administration for 20 years and was recently promoted to a senior leadership position.

Bud regularly wrote letters of praise and thanks to the staff at the dialysis center he visited three times a week for five years, and days before he passed, he had written letters to those who cared for him at the care facility that nursed him. He is most remembered for his positive outlook with words such as, “I choose to remain optimistic,” and “Today is a good day to have a good day.”

Bud is survived by his two children: Erica of Seattle, Washington, and Ethan and his wife, Mimi, of San Rafael, California, several grandpets, nieces and nephews, and many other relatives and friends.

A celebration of life will take place at VFW Post 67 in Sacramento on November 5, 2023.