DrJohnLeeadevoted husbandandfather
The sad death has taken place of Dr John Lee, Rockcliffe, Coolballow, and formerly Geashill, County Offaly.
Dr Lee, who was 81, was the head of the Johnstown Castle Research Centre for the 15 years prior to his retirement in 2003.
He is the dearly loved husband of Ita and father of Cheryl, John, Dorothy and Jennifer. He is sadly missed by his loving wife, daughters, son, eight grandchildren, brothers Noel, Joe and Tom, daughter-in-law, sons-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family, relatives, colleagues and friends.
His Funeral Mass took place in the Church of The Assumption, Bride Street, last Tuesday, followed by burial in Murrintown Cemetery.
His interests included history and reading, particularly Westerns, and he was a life-long fan of Offaly GAA.
He took up golf at the age of 68 and took a keen interest in gardening at his family home. The couple travelled extensively to visit family members around the world.
Dr Lee was a devoted father and husband, modest, generous and always put his family first.
He died at home following a short illness during which time he was cared for by his wife, Ita.
The son of Theresa and Joseph Lee, of Geashill, John Lee graduated in Agricultural Science from UCD in 1957 and earned his doctorate from Trinity College in 1966, the same year he and Ita were married .
He began his career in 1957 with the Irish Sugar Company and worked as an agricultural adviser in Laois and Kildare from 1958-60, before joining the National Soil Survey, An Foras Taluntais, at Johnstown Castle, under Dr Pierce Ryan
He was subsequently awarded a Kellog Foundation scholarship to study at the University of Wisconsin, USA, during which time he gained experience with the USDA Soil Conservation Service.
In his early career, he specialised in land use research and quantification of the land resources of Ireland. His research achievements included the seminal work on land evaluation for grassland in 1972 (Lee and Diamond) and his research which assisted in the overthrow in the courts of the controversial Griffith Land Evaluation in 1982 for which he was later honoured by the Wexford farmers involved.
Having served a number of years as Head of the National Soil Survey, he was appointed Head of Johnstown Castle Research Centre in 1988. In response to changing economic policies, he spearheaded the transformation of the Centre to a new and challenging environmental role in the 1990s. The then revision of farm nutrient advice became pivotal to a new EU regulatory regime.
At EU level, he played a major role in land use research and completed the first EU-wide assessment of land for grassland and arable farming. Dr Lee served on a number of EU expert groups, worked on the European Soil Resources project for FAO in Rome and carried out work for the Council of Europe. He was Technical Secretary of the first EU Expert Group on Land Resource problems which was led by Dr Tom Walsh and was an invited lecturer at a number of postgraduate schools including the University of Athens, the University of Padova and the EU Joint Research Centre, in Varesa, Italy.
Closer to home, he was Secretary of the Irish Society of Agronomy and Lane Use and Consultant Editor of the Soil Survey and Land Evaluation Journal (UK). Dr Lee served as a member of the Irish Farm Tax Tribunal and on the RIA Committee on Geography and was credited with more than 160 publications.