Mathilde B. "Mimi" Lee was an
American chemist,
athlete and
philanthropist who served as the
First Lady of
Maryland from 1977 to 1979 when her husband, then Lt. Governor
Blair Lee III, became acting Governor following the departure of
Governor Marvin Mandel.
(May 1, 1920 – August 9, 2011)
Biography
Early life
Lee was born
Mathilde Boal on May 1, 1920, in
Washington, D.C.[2] She was named for her maternal grandmother, a distant relative of
Christopher Columbus.
[1] Her mother, Jeanne de Menthon, a native of
France, was a
descendant of the 11th century French
saint,
Bernard of Menthon.
[1] Lee's father,
Pierre de Lagarde Boal, was an American diplomat who served as the United States' ambassador to
Nicaragua and
Bolivia during the 1940s.
[2] Boal, who was fluent in
English,
French and
Spanish, lived in ten countries by the time she completed college.
[1]
Boal graduated from
Elmwood School, an exclusive all-girls school in
Ottawa,
Canada, where her father was stationed for a diplomatic post.
[1] She obtained a
bachelor's degree in
chemistry in 1943, graduating
cum laude from
Bryn Mawr College in
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
[2]
Boal took a job as a
chemist with the
Rockefeller Foundation in
Colombia after graduating from Bryn Mawr College.
[2] She soon became engaged to
Francis Preston Blair Lee III, a
naval officer during
World War II, whom she married in 1944.
[1] The two families, the Lees and the Boals, had previously been close friends even before the marriage.
[1] The couple had eight children.
[3]
First Lady of Maryland
Blair Lee III was sworn in as
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland in 1971 and became acting
Governor in 1977 when Governor
Marvin Mandel was charged with
racketeering
and stepped down on an interim basis. As Maryland's First Lady, Lee
took on an unusually independent approach from her predecessors.
[2] Lee did not move to the
Government House in
Annapolis instead choosing to live with her children full-time at their home and
farm in
Silver Spring, Maryland.
[2] When speaking to the
Baltimore Sun
upon taking office in 1978, Governor Lee said of his wife, "Where I go,
she goes. At least that's what I keep telling myself anyway. She would
rather be
canoeing on the
Potomac,
backpacking along the
Appalachian Trail or teaching children to swim than preparing for a formal party."
[1] One of Lee's predecessors, former First Lady
Barbara Mandel,
publicly offered to act as a "sort of senior adviser" to Lee explaining
the need of First Ladies to engage in ceremonies, such as
ribbon cuttings and garden tours.
[4]
Lee privately and publicly disliked much of the ceremonial roles of a
traditional First Lady, like the ribbon cuttings, and the practice of
politics, which she called "frivolous."
[1][2] Political
columnist Frank DeFilippo, who served as
press secretary for Governor Mandel, said of Lee, "I normally eschew the overused word '
unique,' but Mimi truly was. I've covered first ladies going back to
Avalynne Tawes, and Mimi was the only one of the bunch who truly loathed life in the
mansion, which, when forced to be there, she roamed in
Sunny's Surplus fatigues with cargo pockets."
[1] Lee compared the formal role of First Lady, which she called "pomp," to social functions held at
U.S. embassies when she was a girl.
[2] In a 1977 article, the
Washington Post took note of the unusual outlook of the new First Lady, "She disdains
luncheons and
fashion shows except for her favorite causes — the
Red Cross,
water safety and
Holy Cross Hospital
among others. And while some other women from ordinary backgrounds
would revel in the new status, Mimi Lee admits that sometimes it's
inconvenient."
[1] The
Washington Post also noted that she "answers her own phone, vacuums her house, cooks for her guests."
[1] In 1977, she told the
Washington Post she wanted to "throw up" whenever her family was described as an "
aristocracy."
[1]
While Lee limited her time in the state capitol, she partook in her state duties when necessary.
[2] Even in
Annapolis, Lee preferred sneakers, jeans and work skirts to more formal attire.
[1][2] She once expressed irritation at the cancellation of a
white water rafting trip on the
Shenandoah River, but later told the
Washington Post in the late 1970s that she had a "lovely" time hosting
The Princess Anne.
[2] Lee focused much of her official time as First Lady on volunteer functions, such as the
March of Dimes or the Red Cross.
[2] An accomplished
athlete, Lee taught swimming classes for the handicapped while in office.
[2] She held an annual "Beer Bash" for Maryland Democrats at her farm in Silver Spring, often cooking for the guests.
[1]
Governor Blair Lee ran for a full term as Governor in 1978, but was defeated in the Democratic gubernatorial primary by
Harry Hughes.
[2][3]
The Lees left office in January 1979, shortly before the end of his
term, when Governor Mendel reclaimed his office for the two remaining
days.
[2]
Later life
Her husband, Blair Lee, died in 1985. Lee devoted much of the rest of her life to athletic and
philanthropic pursuits.
[3] Lee was an avid
outdoor enthusiast throughout her life, pursuing
skiing,
canoeing, and
camping.
[2] She became a practitioner of
yoga
during her tenure as First Lady and continued her athletic interests
during her later life, becoming a competitive Senior athlete in
swimming.
[2]
An accomplished
Senior Olympian, Lee broke numerous national and Maryland
swimming records while competing in the
Senior Olympics during the 1990s.
[1][2][5][6] Lee also competed in the
U.S. Masters Swimming Nationals, winning eight swimming competitions throughout the United States, and placed second in twenty other races.
[1] She hiked the
Pyrenees between
France and
Spain with two of her seventeen-year old grandchildren when she was seventy years old.
[1]
Outside of the
swimming pool, Lee learned
German during her 80s.
[1]
Mimi Lee died of
congestive heart failure at Laurel Regional Hospital in
Laurel, Maryland, on August 9, 2011, at the age of 91.
[2][3]
She was survived by seven of her eight children - Blair Lee IV, Joseph
W. Lee, Christopher G. Lee, Erica B. Lee, Philip L. Lee, John F. Lee and
Jenny Sataloff; her sister, Mary Elizabeth d'Harcourt; nineteen
grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
[2] Her eighth son, Pierre B. Lee, died in 1973. Lee's
funeral Mass was held at her parish, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, in Silver Spring.
[3]
To see more of who died in 2011 click here
Robert Neal Abberley was an English cricketer. A stalwart county player, he was a right-handed batsman and occasional right arm medium pace bowler. He was born in Stechford, Birmingham and played for his native Warwickshire from 1964 to 1979.
