Joe Lee

Joe Lee was born in 1944, in Shantou, China, in the Guandong province.

He was first introduced to ping pong when he was 8, on a ship heading to South America. Playing table tennis onboard kept him busy and he was able to win an impromptu tournament held on the ship. He stayed in Sao Paulo, Brazil until coming to the US when he was 16. During his years in Brazil, he didn’t play any table tennis, focusing instead on soccer.

Upon coming to the US, he ended up in Seattle. He wound up studying at the University of Washington, and it was there that ping pong took off for him.

During his first year at UW, there were 4 tables and he went there and play after seeing others play. He worked a lot during his first year of school and had limited time to play, but in his second year of studies he met fellow Washington Table Tennis Hall of Fame member Rob Roberts and the two of them practiced a lot. Joe won the West Coast Intercollegiate Championship two years in a row in singles, and twice in doubles together with Rob.

Joe won Seattle City Open and British Columbia Open to establish himself as one the best in the Pacific Northwest. Together with Tom Ruttinger and Rob they were the best in the region from the late 60’s to the mid-70’s.

In the early 70’s, Joe, along with Tom and Rob, banded together to form the Seattle Sockeyes. The Sockeyes were the brainchild of flamboyant promoter Windsor Olson. The team traveled the west coast playing matches against other teams, tournaments and exhibitions. This included a team match against Canada (represented by a Vancouver team) in Port au Prince, Haiti. The Seattleites were treated first-class to treatment and armed-guard security wherever they went. A film crew from King TV was also on hand.

The Sockeyes ran into a patch of trouble after Olson set up several matches against Taiwan. Taiwan was not a member of the ITTF and once the USTTA caught wind of these matches, it suspended Joe and his teammates from USTTA play for six months. The Sockeyes drifted apart then, shortly thereafter.

Together with Tom, Joe opened the Ping Pong Parlor, on the second floor above a dry-cleaning facility, in the early 70’s. The club operated from 1971 to 1973 and ran a league and several tournaments.

Joe started teaching in Edmonds in 1967, and began dabbling in real estate during the summers. By the mid 70’s Joe left teaching and table tennis to concentrate more fully on his real estate ventures.

After suffering some injuries from forays into tennis and soccer, that resulted in fused wrists and ankles, he returned to table tennis in the early 2000’s. He switched to pips and stayed closer to the table to compensate, whereas before he played a more aggressive style with smooth rubber. He resumed playing in local and national events, and even the 2018 World Veterans Championships, although in a more casual manner relative to before.

His best career win was over Taiwan’s number 3 player in a Sockeye match.

Joe is a great sportsman, whose successful table tennis career has spanned decades and who has also done much to promote the sport on many levels.