Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Serene Lee was born to her parents in February 1958 in Singapore. She was raised in Malaysia with her brother and sister. Her father worked as a civil servant for the British Colony, while her mother was a schoolteacher. She was greatly influenced by her mother, who was very Victorian.

Serene was a very happy child. She showed warmth and kindness toward others. When people met her for the first time, they felt so comfortable because she was so caring. She was also ambitious, worked hard and was an exceptional student. She planned for her future. It was a family tradition to go to England for higher education and she did her high school there at a tender age of 16. Starting college at the young age of 17, she attended the University of London where she earned her degree in Economics.

In 1978, she became friends with Kim Tan, who was also attending the University majoring in Business. After Kim's mother died suddenly, Serene helped him get through the unexpected loss. She helped him emotionally and after that, the couple fell in love. He was attracted to her sense of personal character, strength and dignity.

Kim moved to the United States, but truly, he couldn't live without her and asked for her hand in marriage. Serene said, "Yes," and the couple married in San Bernardino in 1982. The couple moved to Louisiana and attended graduate school at Louisiana State University. Serene earned her Master's Degree in Economics. She was even offered an opportunity to enter the Ph.D. program at LSU. But, when Kim's father became ill, the couple relocated to Malaysia in 1983. Sadly, his father passed away in 1986, and Serene supported him through his loss. She was really his soul mate, friend, supporter, and she always provided emotional guidance.

Three years later in 1989, Serene and Kim's greatest joy arrived with the birth of their only son, Brian. Serene loved being a mother. She was an avid reader and she enjoyed reading to him. She knew the importance of reading to him. She also exposed him to an education outside of the classroom. She took Brian to the zoo, museums, beaches, car shows, aquariums, fairs, exhibits, parks, and big Aerospace shows. She and Brian shared a love of airplanes. She took him to Disneyland a dozen times and threw birthday parties for him when he was young. Expense was no object, as she encouraged and nurtured his interests and talents, no matter what they were. Through the years, she kept everything for Brian including his baby bracelet from the hospital, his medical records, his drawings, homework assignments, remarks from his teachers, and so many photos. She was very proud of Brian.

In 1994, the family settled in the Inland Empire. Kim was hired as a consultant with Price Waterhouse in Singapore and the family traveled back and forth from the United States to Singapore from 1994 through the year 2000. During that time, the family traveled overseas to Asia, Australia, and they saw the world. Eventually, Kim settled full-time as a professor at Cal State San Bernardino and UC Riverside.

Brian attended Loma Linda Middle School. He played softball for a year and Serene attended all of his games, plays, concerts, and science fairs. When his father played with his son, he even hit a homerun on his first try. Brian attended high school education in Singapore. At the young age of 16, he attended UCR and then UCLA, where he went on to earn his degree majoring in Political Science.

Serene's goal was to see him graduate from college and find professional success. She did exactly that. When Brian worked at DreamWorks, he surprised her for her birthday with a limo ride to a private employee screening of "Avatar" and dinner at Hotel Roosevelt. Serene loved the experience and she even made friends with Jamie, her limo driver, who is here in attendance today. She visited every single set Brian worked on, and every single premiere of the countless independent films he produced or directed for the past five years. When she visited, she liked to help set up craft services or take pictures for posterity. Brian is currently working as a Production Coordinator on the film, "Jack the Giant Killer" at Digital Domain, which is expected to find great success internationally. Serene was very encouraging of Brian's interests in the film industry, and encouraged him to go for his first mainstream feature film production job as a Production Assistant on the film "Tron: Legacy." She told him, "Whatever you love to do, we support you." She was a rare parent who didn't intrude on his life, but treated him as an adult. Although she often frowned on his bias towards mindless action films with terrible plots, high death counts, and decadent extravaganza and preferred him to make romantic comedies, she gave him the freedom to pursue what he wanted to do, and she was so proud of Brian's accomplishments.

Professionally, Serene led by example as she found success in every job she held. She worked as Public Finance Administrator for a hospital; she served as a Senior Public Relations Executive with the British Counsel; she worked as a journalist for magazines as a professional writer; and more recently, she worked as a substitute schoolteacher at the Moreno Valley and Riverside Unified School District.

With many favorites in life, Serene loved reading and volunteering at the Festival of Books at UCLA for many years. She enjoyed listening to gospel songs with meaningful, uplifting lyrics. Her favorite song was the beautiful song, "Just Let Me Say", which all of you heard or will hear today. She loved spending time at the beach, as it was a place she appreciated for its tranquility. She especially loved hearing the ocean waters as she walked along the beach. Kim and Serene walked at the beach for exercise. They first went to Playa Del Rey and then walked at Marina Del Rey. Sometimes they'd even drive down to Redondo Beach and walk. They'd walk for three miles or more and enjoy every step.

The family celebrated traditional holidays each year with Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. She always invited people over to their home to join the family for Thanksgiving every single year. Just last year, she invited friends of Brian's to join them, which included two German exchange students who didn't have anywhere to go for the holiday. She always put out decorations for the holidays and decorated the Christmas tree each year with a different theme of ornaments. She was very good with décor and interior design. Her favorite flowers were orchids and her favorite color was lavender. When it came to clothing, she preferred wearing earth tones, as she loved nature and the ocean.

Serene was a brilliant gourmet cook. Her specialties included a delicious turkey, quiche, angel hair pasta, Waldorf Salad and Shepherd's Pie. Her food was better than restaurant food, as Kim, Brian, and his friends would constantly remind her in a bid to get her to cook again. On top of Oprah, Kim and Serene enjoyed watching The Food Channel and their favorite show was Master Chef.

Growing up in a British colony, she embraced English traditions and for the rest of her life, enjoyed having "tea time" with her homemade scones and crumpets. She'd drink several cups of Earl Gray English tea throughout the day with a little milk, no sugar. Her favorite foods were Malaysian dishes, especially hot and spicy meals.

With Brian's friends, she was also a friend. She loved hosting and having people over to her home. She'd cook for Brian's friends, eat with them, and talk to them. She was "the cool mom" as his friends could talk to her about anything and everything.

One of her favorite hobbies was shopping. She loved shopping for clothes or finding a discount. She was practical, because she had her educational degrees in economics and she knew how to stretch the dollar. She loved wearing hats. She liked collecting toys of geese, ducks, and bears. She even bought Brian a music box with a ceramic bear on top that plays the song "Memories" from the musical, "Cats." When she thought Brian needed a new pair of shoes, she would trace the outline of his shoe and go to the store. She'd use that outline to buy two pairs of shoes for him. She liked buying things for her son. She recently bought him a nice watch so he could wear it for work. That was how much she loved him.

Serene always had a love of dogs as pets. When she was a child, her parents imported a German Shepherd from Germany with the name "Rufus." It was a pedigree dog and you weren't allowed to change the dog's name, or else. In her adult life, she had a German Shepherd named "Sheila," and when Brian was about eight, they added a German Shepherd Lab mix into their lives. They named that dog "Sushi" because it looked like a sushi roll.

Serene was a community person, too. She suffered breast cancer in 1999, but she was cancer free since her original treatment. She supported many foundations and charities and even walked in the Revlon Walk in the fight against women's cancers. After her treatment for breast cancer, Serene lived every day like it was her last.

Spiritually, Serene was in the right place with God. She was Christian, very religious, and for many years, the family went to church services at Shepherd of the Hills in Porter Ranch listening to sermons each week by Pastor Dudley Rutherford. More recently, the family was attending church services closer to their home. She always felt God was watching over her. She even saw God once. During an operation, she prayed for God to visit her and then she saw Him sitting on her bedside. Her pain went away and it was the greatest feeling she's ever experienced. She also had the gift of vision and she could see angels. She had an extraordinary gift.

Her family was the best thing in her life and she valued her husband and son. She also had a great sense of humor and showed her concern for her son by saying, "A dead hero is of no use to your mom." It was a funny saying, but all the more poignant thinking about her son out in the world and pushing himself so hard to achieve his dreams. Every time she parted she always hugged and told him, "I love you." They were really close and had an inseparable mother-son bond.

As Brian got older, he celebrated his birthdays by renting a fancy car. One year he rented a Porsche Cayman and another year it was a BMW M-6. His mother even had her picture taken in the Porsche. Being a shutterbug, Serene had her camera on her all the time and like her, Brian has some incredible photos of his mother as he's also a professional photographer by trade.

Brian treated his mother with great love and care. He did special things to surprise her for her birthday. This year for her birthday in February, Brian chartered a helicopter and flew his mother from Los Angeles to Catalina on a day trip. She loved it because they got the VIP treatment. The flight made her a little bit nervous, but it was a wonderful surprise. On another occasion, he took her to the Hollywood Bowl to see the fireworks on the 4th of July. When they went to Orange County, they just happened to be in the right place to take a ride in a hot air balloon. She was spontaneous and fun and never turned down an opportunity to go paint the town red - Or whichever color suited the occasion!

Years ago when Serene was learning how to drive for the first time, she backed her father's Mercedes directly into a wall. It was one of those stories that you remember for life, and Brian would always remind her of the incident whenever she attempted to lecture him about his driving skills or lack thereof. Seeing his mother pictured with that Mercedes inspired Brian to get a Mercedes of his own in his Junior year of college. When Brian was choosing his Mercedes, Serene helped him so he could buy it.

Over the last three years, the family has lived in West Los Angeles. Serene has made friends with so many of their neighbors. And, she was thoughtful. She'd write notes and give chocolates to some of the children. She'd take her neighbor's dog for a walk and was best friends with one of the residents, Victor. She helped another neighbor by taking her shopping for her groceries. She was caring with everyone in her life.

Over the last few weeks, Serene and Brian spent a lot of time together. He took her to The Counter or Hotel Roosevelt to eat the best burgers. He took her to Neptune's Net in Zuma Beach for Mother's Day. He took her to Santa Monica to eat and she was very generous as she tipped the waiter half of their bill. They went out on weekends and he'd take her shopping to The Grove or to the mall. Being a cool Mom, she was never above going bar-hopping with Brian, or sharing a beer with him whilst having a heart-to-heart talk.

Serene was planning to do more shopping, when she unexpectedly suffered an aneurysm. She was in the hospital for 21 days. At the hospital, her family played the music she loved. They held her hands, shared comforting words, sang songs, and asked God and the angels to come into her room. In the end, there was a sense of peace, as she passed away with Kim and Brian by her side. They both feel they will be reunited with her again one day.

Brian will miss his mother's presence, her brilliant advice, and her unconditional love. She was an incredible listener and Brian could always be himself around her. She was his best friend and confidante.

Kim will miss his wife, his partner and his friend in life. It's hard waking up in the morning and she's not there.

Serene's advice to everyone would be to make the best of your time, don't dwell in the past, love each other, and be happy.

Her purpose in life was to be the greatest mother to Brian and she fulfilled that purpose honorably. She lived to see him graduate and start his career in adulthood. And, she had a great instinct about people as she opened up her life to help people over the years. She was witty, had a big heart, warmth, sincerity, and she was a genuine person. She was very engaging and could talk to anyone. She was intellectual, yet down to earth. She was also morally right and did what God intended. Serene was laid to rest with her Bible and her glasses.

She is loved and remembered by her husband Kim Tan; son Brian L. Tan also known as 'BLT' to all his friends and co-workers; extended relatives and many friends.

The following poem was written by Serene's friends in Singapore:

And as we gather here today
To celebrate your life
As a wonderful mother, sister and friend
And a loving wife

We thank you for all the moments
Thru which you have played a part
That which we will remember
How an angel has touched our heart

And as you live up to your name
To be Serene- in peace
We pray that wherever you may be
May you be filled with bliss

We thank you for all the moments
Thru which you have played a part
That which we will remember
How an angel has touched our heart

And as you live up to your name
To be Serene- in peace
We pray that wherever you may be
May you be filled with bliss