The year Nancy and Alfred got married is up for debate. Nancy says it was 1967. Alfred thinks it was 1966. Nancy laughs, conceding that he might be right.

“It was a long time ago,” she says.

The couple, now in their 70s, are long-time Seattle residents and Seahawks fans. They are also immensely proud of their four grown-up children — Karen, Vicki, Paul and Grace — all University of Washington alums. Two of the children are attorneys, and three are married to attorneys. “We could hold court in our living room,” says Alfred.

It would take a little effort to assemble the court, because most of the kids — and the grandchildren — live in California. So the younger generation checks in on their parents on a regular basis. Alfred remembers the day Karen called when he and Nancy were at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. She asked where they were. Alfred told her.

“That scared the bejesus out of her,” he says, pleased.

While Alfred enjoys a good joke, Karen had some cause for concern. Her dad had a six-way bypass at Northwest Hospital in 2000. In 2010, surgeons gave him a pacemaker. He also has diabetes that he monitors quite closely.

But that day, Alfred wasn’t at the hospital as a patient. Nor was Nancy. The couple was simply walking the halls for exercise, which Alfred does three times a day. The walks are a convenient way to keep Alfred’s blood sugar in check while keeping out of the rain. Along the way, the couple have made some friends, especially with the nurses in the hospital’s childbirth center.

What do they and the nurses talk about? The Seahawks. And money. Before he retired, Alfred — who has a Ph.D. in chemistry — had a long career in insurance and financial planning. He’s given the nursing team some advice on investing. Recently, Alfred and Nancy also gave the nurses at the childbirth center something else: a contribution to purchase an incubator and some gliders.

“Northwest Hospital is kind of like a second home,” Alfred says. “It’s such a fine hospital…it would be a blessing to us to see it grow.”

Postscript: Nancy was right. She and Alfred were married in 1967.


Alfred and Nancy Lee with their children.

Accelerate Care

Through a gift to the Northwest Hospital Childbirth Center and Program Fund.