Sarah Tomerlin Lee; Fashion, Advertising and Design Executive

Sarah Tomerlin Lee, 90, whose career in fashion, advertising and interior design lasted more than six decades, died April 15 in New York City.

Lee went back and forth between the advertising world, where she worked for Helena Rubenstein, Elizabeth Arden and Leona Helmsley, and the magazine world, where she was an editor at Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and House Beautiful. She also worked as a vice president of Lord & Taylor in charge of advertising promotion, display and public relations.

When her husband died in an automobile accident in 1971, she took over as president of Tom Lee Ltd., an interior design firm. Under her leadership, the firm worked on 40 hotels and inns throughout the United States, including the Helmsley Palace in New York, the Willard in Washington and the Bellevue in Philadelphia.

Born Sarah Tomerlin in Union City, Tenn., Lee graduated from Randolph-Macon Women’s College.