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<h1 id="reader-title">Bob Lee, 'Mayor of Fifth Ward,' dead at 74</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">By Cindy George</div>
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<h5 class="timestamp" title="2017-03-22T22:17:22Z"> March
22, 2017 </h5>
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<div class="img-wrap landscape"><img
src="cid:part2.02AC28B5.742E8F9A@freedomarchives.org"
alt="Bob Lee, a lifelong social worker and
older brother of the late Harris County
Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee, died
Tuesday. He was 74. Photo: Michael Gray /
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<p class="caption-full">Bob Lee, a lifelong
social worker and older brother of the late
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner El
Franco Lee, died Tuesday. He was 74.</p>
<p class="caption-truncated">Bob Lee, a lifelong
social worker and older brother of the late
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner El
Franco Lee, died Tuesday. He was 74.</p>
<span class="credit"> Photo: Michael Gray </span></div>
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<p class="caption-full">Robert ÂBobbie E.
Lee, the Mayor of Fifth Ward and brother of
the late El Franco Lee - has died.</p>
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<p>Bob Lee, a lifelong social worker and older brother of
the late Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22El+Franco+Lee%22">El
Franco Lee</a>, died Tuesday. He was 74.</p>
<p>His various titles included community organizer,
writer, storyteller and folk artist. He also was known
to some as the "Mayor of Fifth Ward," an honorary title
bestowed on him by another local resident.</p>
<p>The Kashmere Gardens resident worked for years to help
his politician brother, who served on the commissioners
court for more than three decades before his death last
year, to create northeast Harris County programs such as
a Street Olympics and to stay deeply connected to the
community.</p>
<p>"He was an outstanding human being. He looked at
people, at their strengths. He always tried to help,"
his brother, William Lee, said Wednesday. "He believed
in the community. He believed in family."</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Robert+E.+Lee+III%22">Robert
E. Lee III</a> was born Dec. 16, 1942, to Robert and
Selma Lee. Raised in the Fifth Ward, he was a
contemporary of other political and activist giants who
attended <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Phillis+Wheatley+High+School%22">Phillis
Wheatley High School</a>, including the late Houston
Congressman <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Mickey+Leland%22">Mickey
Leland</a> and <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22People%27s+Party%22">People's
Party</a> II leader <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Carl+Hampton%22">Carl
Hampton</a>.</p>
<p>Lee's grass-roots affinity was ignited in San
Francisco, where he worked with physically challenged
children as part of VISTA, the Volunteers in Service to
America - an anti-poverty domestic Peace Corps program.
He was promoted to a branch on the South Side of Chicago
where he interacted with the <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Young+Lords%22">Young
Lords</a>, a Puerto Rican gang (sic), and navigated
the city's underworld (sic).</p>
<p><em>'A revolution can begin'</em></p>
<p><a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Black+Panther+Party%22">Black
Panther Party</a> co-founder <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Bobby+Seale%22">Bobby
Seale</a> introduced him to the organization, where he
honed his gift for putting people together.</p>
<p>Lee was prominently featured in the 1969 documentary,
"American Revolution 2," which focused on organizing
following unrest associated with the 1968 <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Democratic+National+Convention%22">Democratic
National Convention</a> in Chicago.</p>
<p>In one scene with other Panthers, he attempted to unify
his efforts with poor white youths known as the <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Young+Patriots%22">Young
Patriots</a> and used the language of the times.</p>
<p>"We come here with our hearts open," he told the group.
"Once you realize that you are paying taxes - taxes -
for the cops to whoop your ass. … You're paying them to
come in to beat your children. You're paying them to run
you off the corners and you're paying them to kill you
and deal from there. The same thing is happening on the
south side and the west side. And when you can realize
that concept of poverty - the concept of poverty - a
revolution can begin."</p>
<p><em>'He gave his last'</em></p>
<p>He eventually organized a multiracial coalition in
Chicago that worked on economic justice and anti-police
brutality initiatives.</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Carol+Gray%22">Carol
Gray</a>, widow of the "American Revolution 2"
filmmaker <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Mike+Gray%22">Mike
Gray</a>, said she and her husband had friendships
with Lee.</p>
<p>"I think we have lost one of our greatest organizers
and freedom fighters," she said Wednesday. "My husband
was a white man and Bobby was a black man. They had not
a lot in common, but they grew to love each other and
were brothers in arms."</p>
<p>Lee returned to Houston in 1970. He was a longtime
social worker for the former <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Harris+County+Hospital+District%22">Harris
County Hospital District</a> and spent many years
comforting HIV patients at the <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Thomas+Street+Health+Center%22">Thomas
Street Health Center</a>.</p>
<p>Robbie Lee befriended Bob Lee decades ago when he
walked into her business, the former Black Heritage
Gallery on Almeda.</p>
<p>"Bob had a knack for just connecting with people.
Whatever the need was, people knocked on his door. He
gave his last. If they needed a job, he helped them find
a job. He would go lacking to help others," she said.
"He never wanted any recognition during life for what he
did. He helped so many people behind the scenes with
their campaigns. He was truly an activist and a warrior
and will be sorely missed."</p>
<p><em>A taste for tea cakes</em></p>
<p>Current Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner <a
href="http://www.chron.com/search/?action=search&channel=news%2Fhouston-texas%2Fhouston&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Rodney+Ellis%22">Rodney
Ellis</a> issued a statement mourning the loss of his
longtime friend.</p>
<p>"Even after retirement, he maintained a strong presence
by helping people in the community the rest of his life.
He collected clothes for people so they could go on job
interviews. He also was concerned about children and
people with debilitating diseases such as AIDS and
cancer. … We all mourn the loss of this kind,
good-hearted man."</p>
<p>Bob Lee battled multiple sclerosis for at least two
decades, but the illness and a wheelchair merely slowed
him down.</p>
<p>"He never let obstacles stop him. That was not in his
nature," William Lee said. "He would still collect
clothes. He would still go out and organize and help
people."</p>
<p>His insatiable love for tea cakes was legendary and
intact until the end. "His wife dipped tea cakes into
coffee so that he could enjoy them in his final days,"
Robbie Lee said.</p>
<p>A convert to Islam, Bob Lee also was known as Robert
Alwalee. He leaves a host of relatives, friends and
admirers including his spouse, Faiza, two brothers and a
son.</p>
<p>A private service and burial will be held on Thursday.</p>
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