SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* CHADEN LEE A (Last) (First) (Middle) THREE FIRST NATIONAL PLAZA 70 W. MADISON STREET (Street) CHICAGO IL 60602-4260 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol LEE SARA CORP [ SLE ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) Executive Vice President
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 12/08/2004
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
common stock	12/08/2004		M		11,666	A	$18.54	199,139	D
common stock	12/08/2004		M		18,060	A	$20.76	217,199	D
common stock	12/08/2004		M		37,590	A	$21.125	254,789	D
common stock	12/08/2004		M		9,740	A	$21.125	264,529	D
common stock	12/08/2004		F		71,488	D	$23.5	193,041	D
common stock								427	I	By 401(k) Plan

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
employee stock option (right to buy)	$18.54	12/08/2004		M			11,666	08/29/2003	08/29/2012	common stock	11,666	$0.00	11,667	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$20.76	12/08/2004		M			18,060	12/03/2002	04/27/2010	common stock	18,060	$0.00	0	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$21.125	12/08/2004		M			37,590	06/05/2004	04/27/2010	common stock	37,590	$0.00	5,532	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$21.125	12/08/2004		M			9,740	06/05/2004	08/28/2007	common stock	9,740	$0.00	0	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$23.5	12/08/2004		A		10,200		06/08/2005	08/29/2012	common stock	10,200	$0.00	10,200	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$23.5	12/08/2004		A		9,153		06/08/2005	08/28/2007	common stock	9,153	$0.00	9,153	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$23.5	12/08/2004		A		35,329		06/08/2005	04/27/2010	common stock	35,329	$0.00	35,329	D
employee stock option (right to buy)	$23.5	12/08/2004		A		16,806		06/08/2005	04/27/2010	common stock	16,806	$0.00	16,806	D

Explanation of Responses:

Remarks:

	/s/ Helen N. Kaminski For Lee A. Chaden pursuant to power of attorney previously filed.	12/09/2004
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.