{{for multi|the English businessman|Leonard Pelham Lee|the actor|Robert Fuller (actor)}} {{Infobox person | name = Leonard Lee CM |birth_date={{birth date|1938|7|17}} |birth_place=Wadena, Saskatchewan, Canada | death_date ={{death date and age|2016|7|7|1938|7|17}} | death_place=Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |alma_mater={{plainlist| *Royal Roads Military College *Queen's University }} |occupation=Businessman |known_for=Founder of Lee Valley Tools }} '''Leonard G. Lee''' CM (July 17, 1938 – July 7, 2016) was a Canadian entrepreneur and founder of Lee Valley Tools and Canica Design. Lee was born in 1938 in Wadena, Sask., and grew up in a log cabin without electricity or running water.<ref name="Ottawa Citizen obit">{{Cite news |author= Meghan Hurley |date=July 7, 2016 |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/leonard-lee-founder-of-lee-valley-tools-dies |title=Leonard Lee, founder of Lee Valley Tools, dies |work=Ottawa Citizen |access-date=2017-09-13}}</ref>
He received a diploma in civil engineering from Royal Roads Military College and a Bachelor of Economics degree in 1963 from Queen's University.<ref name="Ottawa Citizen obit" /> He worked for the federal government for sixteen years as a topographical surveyor, member of the Canadian Foreign Service and civil servant in the Department of Industry.
In 1978, he founded Lee Valley Tools, a Canadian woodworking and gardening tools mail-order business which has since grown into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. In 1985, he founded Veritas Tools. In 1991, he founded Algrove Publishing.<ref name="hist"> {{Citation | first = Paul | last = Lima | title = Retooling: The Reinvention of Leonard Lee | date = January 2006 | publisher = CanadaOne | url = http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/jan06/leonard_lee.html }}</ref> In 1998, with his son Robin running Lee Valley Tools, Lee started a new business, Canica Design, a medical/surgical instrument company, headquartered in Almonte, Ontario.
In 2002, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for "being a successful entrepreneur."<ref>[http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=8000 Order of Canada] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070930041554/http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=8000 |date=2007-09-30 }}</ref> In 2007, he was granted an honorary degree from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. In 2011, he was granted an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa. Lee died on July 7, 2016, from effects of vascular dementia.<ref name="Ottawa Citizen obit" /><ref>{{cite news |date=July 7, 2016 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/leonard-lee-obit-1.3669286 |title=Lee Valley Tools founder Leonard Lee dies |publisher=CBC}}</ref>
==Bibliography== *''The Complete Guide to Sharpening''. Taunton Press, 1995. {{ISBN|1-56158-067-8}} (hard cover) {{ISBN|1-56158-125-9}} (soft cover).
==References== <references />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Leonard}} Category:Canadian businesspeople Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni Category:Deaths from dementia in Canada Category:Deaths from vascular dementia Category:1938 births Category:2016 deaths
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