Margaret Englett (October 8, 1962 – October 28, 2001), who later legally changed her name to be known professionally as Siani Lee, was a

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

news anchor and reporter in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. She previously worked in several other cities including

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Life and career

Lee was born in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

and was raised in several military bases as an infant. Lee grew up in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

where she graduated from Denbigh High School in 1981. Lee graduated from

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

in 1985 where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications and journalism. She began her career in 1987 at

WTKR-TV WTKR (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed CW affiliate WGNT (channel 27). ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

as a producer. In 1988, she moved to

WTOC-TV WTOC-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Savannah, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located off Chatham Center Drive in Savannah's Chatham Parkway section, and its transmi ...

where she was a reporter and producer. In 1990, she joined

WMAR-TV WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road (Maryland Route 45) in Towson (though with ...

where she spent one year as a general assignment reporter. In 1991, Lee became an anchor and reporter at

News Channel 8 WJLA 24/7 News is an American regional cable news television channel in Washington D.C. by ABC-affiliated station WJLA-TV (channel 7) owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The channel provides 24-hour news coverage primarily focused on Washing ...

. She earned an award for her in-depth coverage of Washington DC's Asian American community from the National Association for Professional Asian Women. In 1992, Siani earned Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists Dateline Award for her report on

and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

race relations. In 1993, she joined

WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jerse ...

(which was owned by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

at the time) in

as weekend evening anchor and reporter. She spent six years at the station reporting for major events including the

1993 Storm of the Century The 1993 Storm of the Century (also known as the 93 Superstorm, The No Name Storm, or the Great Blizzard of '93/1993) was a cyclonic storm that formed over the Gulf of Mexico on March 12, 1993. The cold weather, heavy snowfall, high winds and st ...

, the

North American blizzard of 1996 The North American blizzard of 1996 was a severe nor'easter that paralyzed the United States East Coast with up to of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. This storm was a classic example of a nor'easter, but the storm would not ha ...

, and the station's affiliation swap with

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WPSG (channel 57 ...

in 1995 (WCAU became an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

-owned station at that time); she also anchored the weekend newscasts. Siani Lee's big break came in 1999 when she joined KYW-TV as the main weekday 6pm co-anchor and consumer reporter.

Death

On Sunday, October 28, 2001, 20 days after her 39th birthday, Lee was driving her Mercedes in Schuylkill Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania when she went through a stop sign at a major intersection. She was hit on the driver's side in a broadside collision. Lee was not wearing a seat belt at the time and was pronounced dead at the scene from severe neck and head trauma.

Legacy

Lee was the President of the Philadelphia chapter of the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...

and was the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

to anchor in the Philadelphia market. She served on the board of directors at MANNA, an agency which provided food to AIDS patients. Lee was remembered by her colleagues as a hardworking and valued woman and was also known for her willingness to help others and for her humor. Lee was posthumously inducted into "The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's Hall of Fame" on November 29, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Siani 1962 births 2001 deaths South Korean emigrants to the United States Television anchors from Washington, D.C. Hampton University alumni People from Newport News, Virginia Television anchors from Philadelphia Philadelphia television reporters Road incident deaths in Pennsylvania Journalists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American journalists