Swing (Jan-Dec 1953)

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310 S« Mr. Lee had been in Kansas City three years when a friend introduced him to pretty Bess Dimmitt. The Dimmitts had moved to Kansas City from Columbia, Mo., where they were related to the Samuels and the Garths, two of Boone County's earliest families. Bess' father was Ed' ward Dimmitt. He had been a banker with the Garths in Columbia, and later opened a drug store in Kansas City. Young Bess Dimmitt had just finished a private school in Kansas when she met Fred Lee. A large part of their courtship took place in Colum' bia where they visited her many relatives. Their good times together under the spell of Columbia's southern hospitality ripened their friendship, and on a June day in 1907 Bess Dimmitt and Fred Lee were married. Their first daughter, Marjorie, was born in 1914 and attended the Bryant School, and later the University of Missouri. Betty, who was born in 1919, went to school in Kansas City and later at' tended Briarcliff College. A tennis fan for years, Fred Lee took up golf in the early twenties, for relaxation. He shoots what he calls, "a business game," in the 90's. His greatest enjoyment, however, has been traveling to new places with the family. The Lees' first big trip was to Europe in 1925. For seven weeks they traveled through England, Holland, France, Germany, and Switzerland. Mr. Lee remembers Paris as the highspot of the trip, especially his tour through a top Parisian department store, the Galeries Lafayette. He in9 found that the best stores in Europe — Lafayette's in Paris, Herod's and Selfridge's in London — were operated in a different manner than American retail stores. The store interiors were lavishly decorated, and business was conducted in a quiet, almost hushed manner. Other trips followed for the Lees. Bermuda in 1935, and most recently, a flying trip to the West Indies with stops at Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Another favorite spot is Mexico, which they have revisited three times since their first trip in 1931. They both enjoy Mexico City, which reminds them of Paris. On their last trip, Mr. Lee was particularly interested in seeing the new Sears, Roebuck store there. He found the Mexican approach to retailing to be the same as the European approach. FRED M. LEE gained more and more responsibility in the John Taylor store, becoming general manager at 30, and later treasurer and then secretary-treasurer. He always believed that the store and its executives should take an active part in community affairs. This spirited belief accounts for the long list of civic and business activities in which the name Fred M. Lee is synonymous with leadership. Early in World War I, when civic groups did so much for the food and fuel conservation campaigns, Fred Lee found himself a director of the Chamber of Commerce, where he helped organize its many wartime activities. History repeated itself in