He has been sheriff of Jefferson Parish since 1980. There has been no one like him on the political scene in this state before and won’t be after. One of a kind. At the same time, the most frustrating bull-headed strong-willed character and the kindest gentlest sweetest strongest leader. Take your pick. No one was neutral about Sheriff Lee.

He was second-generation Chinese-American. His family ran the House of Lee Chinese Restaurant on Veterans in Metairie for many years. He served as a driver for well-known Congressman Hale Boggs before getting a law degree and entering the political fray himself. He was big. The gastric bypass surgery he had four years ago pared off a good deal of excess weight, bringing him down 90 pounds from a high of 375. But he was still big. And opinionated. And wonderful and narrow minded. Love and feared.

In a state that has turned out more than its share of political characters, Lee ranks up near the top. Since the deputies worked at his pleasure, he said, “That means they have to please me.” And they did, otherwise, they sought other employment. These people hired for law enforcement sold tickets to Harry’s annual fund-raisers which raked in large amounts of cash. Lee then donated money to various candidates he wanted elected, bought ads for positions he took, and assisted churches and community organizations. He then expected–and received–the votes and support of those groups. There was nothing subtle about this man. What you see was what you got. Like it or not.

I suppose he was a Catholic, not sure. In an email Monday evening from Robert Storey, the Youth For Christ worker in our area, I learned that Sheriff Harry had given testimony to Robert’s wife Kathy–who works for the Sheriff’s office–that he had found a new closeness to the Lord and a peace with God recently. He expressly asked that Kathy participate in his funeral.

Last year, Harry was found to be with leukemia. A tough kind of cancer, fast-moving, the type that moves in and kills you quickly, as we were made to understand. He spent time in and out of hospitals in California getting strong doses of chemotherapy and other drugs, and then was in and out of Anderson Hospital in Houston. He had a great weekend, we’re told, even going fishing with his grandchildren. Sunday, he suffered some kind of attack, couldn’t get his breath, and was rushed to Ochsner. Evidently, he went into a coma, perhaps from the medications they gave him. No one wanted to say to the world what everyone feared, that the end may be near. Turned out to be nearer than any of us thought.

The sheriff’s office in this parish gets a certain percentage of sales taxes. Since the money does not come from the parish council, Sheriff Lee resisted any attempts from the council to look at his budget. He was not chosen by them, but elected by the people, same as them, so he felt no accountability to them. Therefore, no one on the planet that I know of, has a clue as to precisely how he spent the money in his office’s budget. We’re talking many millions of dollars a year.

Tell me if that’s not frightening. And yet, even with such an obvious problem about the sheriff’s office operations, political leaders in this part of the state were afraid of the man. They did not dare cross him. Now that he is dead, they will say the finest things about him–and there is much good to be said–but I suspect that a great sigh of relief has just gone up from all those who did not have the courage to stand up to what he did and what he would not do. He was the law. And I don’t just mean ‘the sheriff’.

I said he was frustrating. Months ago, he announced that even though he was 75 and battling a terminal disease, he was running for re-election as sheriff. Furthermore, he would crush any opposition and not take kindly anyone daring to run against him. I could not believe the impertinence of that, but bit my tongue and said nothing. What I thought was, “He has held the job so long, he thinks it’s his by divine right.” Later, I decided that maybe the crafty poltician had something else in mind. If he was re-elected, then died in office, his second-in-command would be the sentimental favorite for the position. And that turn of events would end up taking care of all Harry’s people.

He was loyal, make no mistake about it. Until you crossed him.

When Peter Dale, police chief of suburban Harahan, even dreamed out loud about running for sheriff against Harry this summer, Lee went ballistic. He ranted and raved and ordered that Dale be uninvited to his annual shindig. Dale acted shocked, said he had not thought seriously of doing such a thing, that he loved Harry, etc etc. But the damage was done. My opinion, at this distance, is that Harry Lee was not very forgiving. Cross him and get crossed off forever. That earned him the respect and dread of every other politician who even toyed with the idea of criticizing him.

Thereafter, even while battling his cancer, the sheriff was fighting mad, declaring that he would win re-election with one hand tied behind him. The very idea of someone running against him! He most definitely took it personally.

I thought about writing to the editor of the paper something to the effect that, “If being elected sheriff of Jefferson Parish is the reward for many years of service to the community, let’s re-elect Harry. But not if it’s about law enforcement. If the work is so easy that the sheriff does not have to be actually in the office, but his assistants can run things, then let’s abolish the office, save that money, and turn the job over to the assistants.”

Which would have been nothing in the world except a call for some clear thinking on the matter of his re-election.

And it would have been completely futile, of course. And probably even offensive to some of Harry’s friends who interpret anything less than complete devotion to the man as unpatriotic and unAmerican.

So, I didn’t write that letter, but just thought it. The politicians aren’t the only ones shy of courage, sometimes.

Peter Dale did indeed register to run for sheriff, alongwith businessman Julio Castillo from the west bank town of Harvey. Prior to today, no one gave either of them a chance. What will happen now is anyone’s guess. All bets are off. The newspaper says that when the incumbent dies before the election, state law demands that qualifying be reopened to allow other candidates to run. The public announcement is that everyone has a couple of days this week to qualify to run, and that formerly announced candidates must qualify all over again. Someone explain that one to me, please.

Tuesday morning’s television news announced that Peter Dale is taking the matter to the courts, saying it is unconstitutional to re-open qualifying. If the courts agree with him, then he is a shoo-in to be the next sheriff.

Henry Polito is a deacon of William Boulevard Baptist Church and drove the church bus Tuesday as our Vision Tour participants covered sections of metro New Orleans. Some 10 years or more ago, Hank ran for police chief in Kenner, as I recall. Today I asked him about the present situation. He said, “I worked for Harry Lee for 10 years, and put in 20 years on the Kenner police force. Harry was a friend of mine.”

I said, “Are you running?” He laughed. “I’m 76 years old. I’m not running for anything!” He agreed that former Kenner chief Nick Congemi will probably run. What about Newell Normand, Harry Lee’s second-in-command and newly appointed interim sheriff? “I don’t think he wants the job,” Hank said. We shall stay tuned.

Soon after coming to Kenner in 1990, I got a little taste of Sheriff Lee’s feistiness. He was pushing for a casino for our parish, speaking out on radio and TV and in print. I wrote him a quick note. “Dear Sheriff Lee: Instead of promoting a gambling casino with all the problems they cause, how about giving some moral leadership to this parish.”

Give him credit, he wrote me back. “Dear Reverend: I am offended you would suggest there is anything immoral about gambling. Give me one verse in all the Bible that says gambling is wrong.”

I wrote: “Dear Sheriff: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

I never heard back from him.

I did not know him personally. Some of our pastors who did spoke highly of him.

I’m glad he had committed his life to Christ. Sure wish he had done it years ago when his testimony would have amounted to more.

For all the good you did, Sheriff Lee, thank you. God bless and comfort your loved ones. And God guide us to the next chief law enforcement officer for this western half of metro New Orleans please. So much depends on this. Amen.