Edgar Desmond Lee
Co-Founder
Lee/Rowan Company
Laureate 2006
Born in 1917 in Sikeston, Missouri, Edgar Desmond Lee went off to college when he was six months old. Des’ father, Edgar Lee had been hired as a professor of history at Christian College (now Columbia University); and took his family with him. Desmond’s father taught him integrity, high standards, selfless work ethic, and honest loyalty. Using these traits, coupled with school years spent as the youngest drummer in the state of Missouri, and competing in various sports, Des built a framework for successful entrepreneurialism. During college Des and his friend, Jimmy, created their own business. Using Jimmy’s father’s patented pants-creaser they organized the Lee/Rowan Company. With a mere $10,000, they rented a run-down riverfront warehouse, and using handmade tools, and a minimal workforce, Des and Jimmy’s business soon had nationwide orders by the thousands.
Des developed machines that replaced their crude tools, and invented accessories that added value to the product, all the while working to attain his business degree. But the Depression was a hard time, especially for young, under-funded entrepreneurs. They teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, but never succumbed because they knew how to adapt. Des Lee’s perseverance and ingenuity allowed the Lee/Rowan Company to survive the Depression intact. Following a stint in WWII Des returned to find Lee/Rowan’s clothes-drying racks obsolete. He hired some new management with fresh ideas and added a variety of hangers to their product line. Customers loved their unique, gold-plated hangers. Thanks to Des’ adaptability, his company continued making more and more profit while competitors were cutting back. In the 1990s they went worldwide, and to this day Lee/Rowan products continue to make everyone’s lives a lot more organized.
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