Lee Grimes Evans (nee Lucy Lee Custis Grimes) was born in New York City on June 16, 1945. She passed away suddenly on June 30, 2026 at the New Canaan YMCA during a workout.
Her early life was in Locust Valley, Long Island, where she attended the Green Vale
School. Her father, Charles P. Grimes, served as Assistant District Attorney of New York City under Thomas E. Dewey, with notable prosecutions of Dixie Davis and Jimmy Hines. He died unexpectedly in 1957, leading her mother to return to New York City where Lee attended the Brearley School and graduated from The Chapin Schools. She continued her education at Harvard/Radcliffe (Class of 1967), and pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago and the Yale Campaign School. Her mother, Louise Ireland Grimes Ireland, co-author of Children in the Family: A Psychological Guide for Parents, The Intelligent Parents’ Manual: A Practical Guide to the Problems of Childhood and Adolescence, and Ligi: A Life in the Twentieth Century, cultivated in Lee a deep interest in local, national and world affairs. They travelled extensively, and, following Harvard, Lee continued with a year-long world tour.
During her early years after Harvard, she taught at the Brearley and Chapin Schools, and maintained close relationships throughout her life with classmates and students from those schools. After completing the renowned Radcliffe Publishing Course, she worked as an editorial assistant at Saturday Review and at the publishing firm of William Morrow and Company. She then served as an Analyst in the international division of Manufacturers Hanover Bank for several years. Ms. Evans had four children, and believed strongly in a mother’s duty to be actively involved in her children’s upbringing, emphasizing joy in life, education, critical thinking and courageous action.
Her activist years began when her family moved to Dallas, where she was active in Democratic Party politics as a representative to the 1990 state convention with her children in tow. Initially, her focus was the impact of population growth on the global environment, leading to her participation in the historic 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and joining the advisory board of the Population Media Center. Following a family relocation to New Canaan, Connecticut, she co-founded “Hands Off Waveny,” a successful campaign to prevent development of the community’s flagship park. She also served on the Town Democratic Committee and the New Canaan Environmental Commission.
Concerns about the environmental and safety impact of relicensing nuclear power plants in Connecticut led to her serving as Chair of the Anti-Nuclear Committee of the Connecticut Sierra Club and participating in nuclear conferences in Washington, DC sponsored by the Sierra Club and Ploughshares. Becoming increasingly concerned about climate change, Ms. Evans also advocated against fossil fuels.
As an Editorial Columnist for the Stamford Advocate, Ms Evans eloquently argued for progressive causes and the environment. She supplemented her newspaper writings with volumes of correspondence with elected representatives of both parties, and letters to the editor that were published in many newspapers, including The New York Times. She also strongly urged her friends to make their similar views known to policy-makers and legislators.
Ms. Evans was predeceased by her parents, her brother Charles Livingston Grimes, an Olympic rowing gold medalist, and her sister Arline Grimes Heimert, co-master of Elliot House at Harvard University. She is survived by her husband Craig and four children James (Kendra Koski), Natalie (Robert), Daphne, and Peter (Maria Valencia Caicedo) and one grandchild Skyler Koski Evans.
Pursuant to her wishes, she was buried “green” in the rural Naskeag Cemetery in Brooklin, Maine.