Dr. Stewart M. Lee, Professor Emeritus, 81, a resident of the Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community, Cranberry Township, formerly of Beaver Falls, died Tuesday, July 31, 2007, surrounded by family and friends, at UPMC Passavant Cranberry Hospital. Born in Beaver Falls, Pa., on August 7, 1925, he was a son of the late Dr. Charles Lee (a past president of Geneva College) and Alice (Stewart) Lee. He was a graduate of Beaver Falls High School. During World War II, he served on active duty with the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946, attaining the rank of Yeoman Second Class.

He received his bachelor's degree from Geneva College, and her master's and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Pittsburgh. In 1949, he accepted a teaching position at Geneva College, where he taught until 1993, and where, at the time of his death, he was professor emeritus of economics. He co-authored the college textbook, Consumer Economics: The Consumer in Our Society, with the late Dr. Leland Gordon, and then with Dr. Mel Zelenak. Between 1963 and 1993, he was a visiting professor of consumer economics during the summer at 19 colleges and universities.

Dr. Lee's advocacy for the consumer in the marketplace led to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford appointing him to the President's Consumer Advisory Council on which he served from 1970 to 1977. In 1975, President Ford appointed him chairman of the Council.

In addition to his service on the Consumer Advisory Council, he served on President Nixon's Commission on International Trade and Investment Policy from 1975 to 1977. He also served as the consumer adviser on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1978.

He was past president of the American Council of Consumer Interests and a member of the Board of Directors of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. Dr. Lee was a lifelong member of the College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church where he was an elder emeritus.

On June 11, 2007, he and his wife Ann Gilchrist Lee, celebrated 60 years of marriage. In addition to his wife Ann, he is survived by a daughter, Dr. Kathryn Lee, of Wayne, Pa.; two sisters, Margaret Boyce, Annville, Pa., and Ellen Smith, Bloomington, Ill.; 24 nieces and nephews, and several great nieces and great nephews.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Jonathan Lee and Marston Lee, and a sister, Rebecca Lee.

Friends will be received Thursday, August 2, 2007, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the HILL & KUNSELMAN FUNERAL HOME, 3801 Fourth Ave., College Hill, Beaver Falls.

A memorial service celebrating Dr. Lee's life will take place at College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church in Beaver Falls, on Friday, August 3, 2007, at 10 a.m.

A private interment will take place in the Grandview Cemetery, Beaver Falls.

Memorial contributions may be made, if desired, to the Dr. Stewart M. Lee Endowed Scholarship, Office of Institutional Advancement, Geneva College, 3200 College Avenue, Beaver Falls, Pa. 15010.