Harry Hann-yi Lee
Nov. 25, 1997-Jan. 24, 2015
Palo Alto, California

Harry Hann-yi Lee, age 17, passed away on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, at his residence in Palo Alto. Harry was a high school senior at Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, and was a talented cyclist, artist and musician, among many other things. Harry is survived by his father, Tsu-Chang Lee, and mother, Salina An, both of Palo Alto; and twin sisters, Jennifer Lee of Los Angeles and Teresa Lee of New York City.

Born at El Camino Hospital on Nov. 25, 1997, Harry lived in Los Altos until 2004, and Palo Alto for 11 years after that. He attended schools in both districts, including Montclaire Elementary, Palo Verde Elementary, JLS Middle, and Henry M. Gunn High.

From an early age, Harry provided a light to those around him and always found a way to make people laugh. He was creative, energetic and had a great sense of style, specifically when it came to his hairstyles. He was an artist, taking classes since 5 years old, and has had his work displayed at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. He enjoyed music thoroughly, both making and listening to it. He played the violin for eight years, the clarinet for seven, and also was skilled at ukulele and saxophone. He entertained his friends with covers of pop songs played on the kazoo. He was a member of the El Camino Youth Symphony (ECYS) orchestra for two years.

Harry was a Boy Scout, trained in Chinese Wushu martial arts, a Humane Society volunteer and a skilled b-boy. He danced at Dance Academy USA for two years, in addition to teaching himself breakdancing through videos and friends. One of Harry's later passions was cycling, and although he only cycled for a little over a year, he committed himself to the sport with extreme passion and dedication. Within his first year of cycling, he raced in both the San Jose and Los Angeles Velodromes and collected four bikes. He founded the Cycling Club at his high school and dedicated over 10 hours a week to rigorous training during the season. He was also a member of his high school band, Breakdancing Club and Duck Club. He spoke English, Chinese and Japanese.

He obtained his driver's license when he turned 17 and had a perfect driving record without one recorded ticket. He scored a 35 on his ACT test.

Harry struggled with clinical depression, and though he sought and received medical help and support from his loved ones, he was unable to conquer it and ultimately took his own life. Despite his own condition, he was an advocate for others who suffered as well, providing comfort to friends with shared experiences. Harry wanted to pursue a college degree in linguistics and wished to perform research in psycho-linguistics to help detect early stages of depression by assessing lingual expression in others.

He is at peace now, and his friends and family will always remember him for his fearlessness and endless energy.

His family urges anyone in a similar situation to seek help and support as early as possible. They hope to raise awareness for mental health and to prevent teen suicide universally.

Tags: arts/media