Renee Chipman (née Haweis) was born in London, England, in 1903 to parents Lionel Haweis and Lucy Mary De Vergette. She came to Canada with her parents at the age of three, first to New Westminster and later moving to Vancouver. Following various volunteer activities associated with the World War II effort, Renee Haweis joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC). By November 1941, she had become a commissioned officer. In July 1942, she opened and was named the first commandant of the first Western Canadian CWAC Training Centre at Vermillion, Alberta. For her war efforts, Haweis was awarded the honour of Member of the British Empire in 1943. Later that year, she married William Wainwright Chipman. After her husband died in the late 1950s, Renee Chipman moved to Los Angeles, where she worked for the U.S. Defense Department. While there, she met Margaret "Ma" Murray, who convinced her to edit the Bridge River-Lillooet News in Lillooet, B.C. Keenly interested in history, Chipman was credited with creating the Lillooet Museum, of which she became a curator until she died in 1986.

Renee Chipman (née Haweis) married William Wainwright Chipman in 1943. William Chipman died in the late 1950s.

George Cho was born CHO Min Ching in Vancouver on February 20, 1913 in the family home at 65 East 6th Avenue. He was the fourth of seven children. His father CHO Mew was a merchant who arrived in Canada in 1884, one year before the Chinese Immigration Act came into effect. The family is said to have owned market garden land near Burnaby Park, in Kerrisdale, and at the present location of Vancouver General Hospital.

In 1925 at the age of 12, George was sent by his parents to his family’s village of “Ah Who” in the [番禺 Punyu / Panyu] district of China to learn the culture and language. He returned to Vancouver in 1931 at the age of 18 and eventually moved east to Montreal seeking employment.

With business partners, George opened a grocery store named Young’s Market, located on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal’s Notre Dame de Grace (NDG) neighbourhood. The partners eventually purchased a second and third store. George met Susie Woo (Woo Yuet Sue), his future wife, when she applied to work at the Young’s grocery chain. Around 1939, George bought his own grocery store (Young Brothers) on Bernard Avenue in Montreal’s Outremont neighbourhood and eventually invited Susie to work with him there.

He tried to enlist in the army during WWII but was refused because he was deemed too short at 5’2”. George and Susie held off getting married until after the war because Susie’s brother (Harry Woo) had enlisted and she needed to take care and help provide for her family.

George Cho and Susie Woo married on October 13, 1947. They bought a triplex in Outremont just around the corner from the Young Brothers grocery store for their family to live. They had nine children in quick succession, eight of whom survived into adulthood.

George was known to be a quiet man who worked hard to support his family. He’d wake up before sunrise to be at Montreal’s Marché Centrale by 4:30 a.m. to get the best pick of the produce for his store. He worked closely with the other businesses in his neighbourhood where he’d provide the fruit for the local florist’s gift baskets or work out bartering systems with the local Jewish butcher to trade the best produce for best cuts of kosher meat. Every Christmas he would send a huge box of fresh and dried fruit to each of his children's teachers at Guy Drummond Elementary School.

George worked six days a week and only took time off on Sundays, when the store was closed, to go fishing with his family. He sometimes headed down to Chinatown to partake in mahjong; if he was lucky, he would reward his family with boxes of Chinese pastries and baked goods. George himself was a talented home chef and would make 8-10 dishes per meal. From ginger lobster to minced pork with duck eggs, tomato sauce chicken wings to asparagus with bean curd, it was said that he could cook any dish found in Chinatown.

George enjoyed simple pleasures like his La-Z-Boy chair that no one else was allowed to sit in. From this plush throne, he’d watch boxing on Friday nights with an Irish friend named Patty who worked part-time at Young Brothers as a clerk. He also loved to watch hockey and root for the Montreal Canadians.

George sold the business in 1974 after he suffered a heart attack at work. In September 1978, just months before the birth of his first grandchild, he had a second heart attack which would be fatal. He was just 65 years old.

Young Brother’s grocery store can still be found on Van Horne street in Outremont to this day.

Chock On, shortened from Wo Chock On Fong, was the name given to a house located at 359 East Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, after it was bought by the Si Sing Company in the late 1920s. The Si Sing Company was formed by the Wo Surname Association in Vancouver for the purpose of raising funds to buy a house so that the Associations members (mostly single men without a family) in would have a low rent place to stay. In the 1930s, Chock On was also operated as a labour agency, mainly under the supervision of Wo Shou, and contracted Chinese labourers to canneries along the B.C. coast. In 1980, Wo Chock On Fong raised funds among Wo Surname Association members in Vancouver and published a special commemorative book to celebrate a half-a-century history of Chock On.

CHONG Toy Kay (Chong Shee) was born in 1883 in China. By 1902, she was married to LEW Shong Kow who had immigrated to Canada. Within a year, she had given birth to a son.

When the child died in his teens, her husband arranged for her to join him in Canada. She arrived in November 1918 on the S.S. Monteagle. However, for some unknown reason, she was not issued her entry certificate until May the following year.

While in Canada, she gave birth to four more children: three sons and one daughter.

In 1929, her husband died leaving her a widow with four children all under the age of 10 years old.

She managed to raise her kids doing piece-meal work along with a mother's pension from the provincial government. Despite having so little, she managed to save enough to send her son, Hin Lew, to university. He would go on to obtain a PhD and have a long career at the National Research Council.

Chong Shee passed away on August 29, 1974 at the age of 90.

Daisy CHONG was born SUE Yong Kue in 1921 in Victoria, B.C. She and her sisters would go by the surname Chong after part of their father's name, while the sons in the family went by the surname SUE.

In 1948, Daisy was matched to and married Tommy WONG (also known as WONG Bing Tong). He owned and operated the Pender Cafe in Vancouver’s Chinatown for many years. The couple lived in a Chinatown for a time, then moved to Burnaby where they raised their two children: Barbara (Barbara Chan after marriage) and Gary.

Daisy worked for many years at Buckshon Pharmacy not far from the Chinatown area, until her retirement. Her daughter, Barbara, fondly recalls “My Mom enjoyed her working years at Buckshon Pharmacy. One of her proudest moments was when she finally got the postmistress job at the pharmacy. She studied and fretted for months, learning all the rules and procedures to pass the test. It was a proud achievement for her.”

Driving, on the other hand, was a different experience. Daisy’s children fretted when she learned to drive. As Barbara recounts “She was a very nervous driver. Daisy did get her license but never really gained the confidence in driving. She gradually gave it up after a few unfortunate mishaps.”

Daisy lived for more than a century and saw many changes both in Chinatown and in Canada. She passed away in 2014.

George Chong was born CHONG Ham Wing in Canada in 1905, the second child of Chong Hooie (1861-1936) and Fong Shee (1885-1957). He would eventually be of 11 children.

George left elementary school to help support his family. He was a hard worker, dependable and uncomplaining.

At age 34, George married 21-year-old Dorothy Wong. When asked why he married Dorothy, George replied “she had good teeth.” The couple would have three children.

Early on, George supported his family working as a cook at the Canadian Army Training Centre in Saint Jerome, Quebec. His children attended a one-room schoolhouse for their first year of school.

George eventually moved his family to Toronto where he bought a house. He was always self-employed and, for a time, he owned and operated a fruit and vegetable store with a business partner.

In his later years, Chong took the skills he learned from his father, and ran a shoe repair store called “Bill’s Shoe Repair.” Bill was the name of the previous owner but George, having lived through the Great Depression, valued money. He decided not to change the name of the shop as he could save money by not commissioning a new sign. Not surprisingly, customers called him Bill.

George enjoyed remarkably good health throughout his life. His children have no memory of him ever missing a day’s work.

In his retirement years, George had time to enlarge his vegetable garden which included a pear tree. Well into his 80s, he climbed a ladder each year to trim the tree's top branches.

George was accepting and optimistic about life. His final three days of life were spent in a hospital as he battled pneumonia. On the third evening, his voice was deceptively strong when he gave a simple instruction to “bring my cane tomorrow.” George passed away in 1993.

CHONG Ham Way was born in 1915 and grew up in Nanaimo and Victoria, B.C. and later in Woodstock, Ontario. He was the son of a Chinese railway foreman who, after the lines were completed, became a cobbler and owned a shop in Victoria, BC. CHONG Ham Way was known as CHONG Woi, reflecting the pronunciation of his name in the village dialect.

Woi, along with his younger brother Hugh and their wives, owned and operated the Food-Rite restaurant in Woodstock, Ontario. Woi was head chef while Hugh ran the business side of things. The restaurant served mainly western food: prime rib; roast turkey; and liver and onions. The brothers developed a system to serve their clients quickly and efficiently using a cafeteria style set-up. They were able to fill their four dining rooms to capacity with their lunch-time crowds twice over every noon hour.

Two significant events stand out in the history of the Food-Rite Restaurant. On December 24th, 1973, the hotel across the street from the restaurant caught fire and burned down almost the entire block. The restaurant opened its doors and served the emergency crews food and hot drinks all night long. The other is in 1985, when they were presented with the Businessmen of the Year Award for 50 years of Service, on the 50th Anniversary of the opening of their restaurant.

Woi also was a father of four. Every winter he packed down the snow and flooded his backyard to make an ice rink for his kids. He faithfully bought season tickets to cheer on the local Junior A Hockey team and watched Hockey Night in Canada on TV as a family tradition.

Woi passed away in 1989.

CHONG Haw (also referred to as CHANG) arrived in Canada at age 24 and entered the country as a student.

He appears to have settled in Toronto.

CHONG Kee Chong (known also in Canada as Henry CHONG) was born in China on May 27, 1907, in the district of [開平 Hoiping / Kaiping] in 廣東 Guangdong province.

He arrived in Canada at 13 years old, becoming the only member of his family to do so. He paid the $500 head tax upon landing in Vancouver, B.C., in 1920.

Kee Chong settled in Toronto’s Chinatown, where he shared a rooming house with other Chinese youth and an older gentleman who acted as their guardian.

He worked as a laundry operator, and eventually opened his own laundry service. He would drive around Toronto to pick up and deliver laundry. White Canadians would sometimes throw sand at him while he made his deliveries. He learned to speak English well and helped translate for other Chinese immigrants.

Kee Chong often socialized with his fellow countrymen in Chinatown’s shops, until Toronto’s original Chinatown was razed to build the new City Hall.

He made multiple return trips to China in the 1920s and early 1930s, to marry his wife, Yuk Sue Ho, and father three sons. His first son, CHONG Hong Fee, was born in 1927 after Kee Chong had returned to Canada. Kee Chong returned in 1932 to see his wife and son; on this trip, he had another two sons: Hong Theu (b. 1932) and Hong Wai (b. 1933). Kee Chong returned to Canada in late 1933.

Over this period of travel, he developed a lifelong friendship with a Canadian immigration officer, Mr. Fanning. Fanning and Kee Chong helped many Chinese immigrants with their visa applications and immigration interviews, as well as providing translation assistance.

In 1951, Kee Chong became a Canadian citizen and was able to sponsor his family to Canada. By the time his three sons joined him, he had retired and sold his laundry business due to illness.

Kee Chong passed away suddenly on July 23, 1955, after experiencing heat stroke and pneumonia. He was never able to reunite with his wife or meet his sons’ wives, as he had not yet had the chance to sponsor them to Canada. However, his friendship with Mr. Fanning was of a strength and nature that Mr. Fanning assisted the family in bringing them to Canada after Kee Chong’s passing and remained friends with the sons until Mr. Fanning’s own passing.

Kee Chong had 9 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great-grandchildren, none of whom he met. To celebrate his life, bravery, and sacrifices as a young boy leaving his homeland on his own in search of a better opportunity in a foreign country, his entire family would gather every Easter at his gravesite and return to Kee Chong’s wife’s house to share a meal together.

Kevin Kim Wang Chong was born in Hong Kong in 1975 and moved with his family in 1977 to Vancouver, where he was raised. He attended Vancouver College and Prince of Wales High School's mini-school programme. After high school, Chong studied at the University of British Columbia, receiving a BA in English and creative writing in 1997. Chong then went to Columbia University in New York, where he received an MFA in fiction writing in 2000. His master's thesis was published in 2001 as his first novel, Baroque-a-Nova. As of 2016, he is the author of five books (Baroque-A-Nova, Neil Young Nation, Beauty Plus Pity, My Year of the Racehorse, and Northern Dancer), numerous short works (fiction and non-fiction), and several stage and broadcast works. His work has appeared in a range of publications, including Taddle Creek, Chatelaine, Maclean's, Maisonneuve, Vancouver Magazine, the Vancouver Sun, and The Walrus, and on CBC Radio. He is also a former co-editor of Joyland Magazine. He served on the Vancouver Public Library's Board of Trustees in 2003-04 and formerly played guitar in a band called The Redenbachers. Chong also teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia and SFU's The Writer's Studio.

Willie CHONG Jan Wai was born December 15, 1923 in Vancouver. He was the 9th child of a large family of 10 children belonging to his father's first wife. In fact, this C.I.45 photo was cropped out of a larger family photo.

During WWII, Willie was trained as a member of a clandestine fighting group called Force 136. These were special soldiers trained in espionage and sabotage and under the command of the British Special Operations Executive. Their missions would involve being parachuted behind Japanese lines in occupied Southeast Asia; surviving in the jungle in small, mobile teams; and supporting local guerrilla and insurgency groups fighting the Japanese.

Willie was stationed in India along with dozens of other Chinese Canadian soldiers. He once described the unique challenges of being a soldier in Force 136. “Members of Force 136 normally operated in groups of eight, with each being a specialist in his party. Besides the No. 1 and No 2. commanders, there were two demolition experts, a wireless operator, a coder/decoder and two Gurkhas scouts. Each man had his own assignment, and it was most important that everyone operated as a team because the success of the operation depended solely on it. It was also important not to get caught by the enemy, as it would mean certain, painful death. They have issued two “L” pills, which when chewed on will kill within seconds … When parachuting out at 700 feet in the dark carrying 50 lb, it could be very dangerous. If you hurt yourself seriously, you would be left behind with your two “L” pills.”

After the war, Willie returned to Vancouver, got a job as a taxi driver and married Edith Woo. Together they had three daughters: Leslie, Glenda and Jody.

Willie supported his family by doing various jobs. However, his major career was in the commercial fishing industry although, for a time, he owned a laundry business before finally returning to commercial fishing. Over the years he owned a number of fishing vessels; some he purchased and some he built. One of the boats he built was called the “Jody L”. Willie’s last commercial gillnetter was built by a company and named JODY L II.

Willie was proud of his service to Canada. Until his death, he was an active member of both the Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans Pacific Unit 280 and the Chinese Canadian Military Museum.

Willie passed away January 27, 2010. In his obituary, his family remarked “Willie lived life to the fullest and was a charismatic gentleman who had the power to instantly become friends with whomever he met. His witty jokes and strong spirit will forever be missed.”

CHOO Bing Leong was born in China on June 26, 1894 in the district of [番禺 Punyu / Panyu]. Soon after marrying, he left for Canada in search of better opportunities, leaving behind his wife, SHUM Tsui-ha.

Bing arrived in Canada in 1912 at 18 years old, traveling aboard the Canada Maru. He settled in Toronto where he worked as a grocery clerk. He lived frugally so that he could send money back to China to support his family. He journeyed to China multiple times to spend time with his family. During one of his return trips, he and his wife had a daughter.

Bing and his first wife, SHUM Tsui-ha, were not able to have a son. In accordance with Chinese law, if anything happened to Bing, his assets would go to a male relative outside his immediate family, leaving his wife and daughter penniless. To avoid this, he remarried in China, taking a second wife, KIM Po Chai, with whom he eventually had a son, allowing him to keep his assets in the family.

Although Bing was only able to work menial jobs, he worked hard, and was able to buy a house and sponsor his relatives to join him in Canada. In 1955, he brought his son and KIM Po Chai to Canada, and sponsored his daughter and son-in-law a few years later. Subsequently, Bing’s daughter and her husband were able to sponsor SHUM Tsui-ha and bring her to Canada as well.

In Canada, Bing had two more daughters with his wife, KIM Po Chai. They lived in a working-class immigrant neighbourhood, though for many years, they were the only Chinese family in the area. Bing was also active in the local Chinese community; he provided assistance to newcomer Chinese families, offering them room and board until they were able to settle more permanently.

Bing was grateful for his life in Canada. He lived a simple, diligent life, working six days a week and writing poetry in his free time. On Sundays, he would take his kids for treats, then visit with friends at a local Chinese club.

Bing passed away on April 28, 1972.

CHOU Yoi Low was born around 1893 in the district of 番禺 Punyu / Panyu, 廣東 Guangdong Province. He arrived in Victoria, BC in 1913 paying the $500 head tax.

By 1924, he was living at 860 Fisgard Street in Victoria, and worked as a labourer. He had a wife and son in China, but no known relatives in Canada.

Chou Yoi Low died in his home in Port Alberni on July 4, 1954. His personal effects at death totalled $37.42 in cash, a silver Tavannes wristwatch, his C.I.5 certificate, two gold loans issued by the Republic of China, and two Liberty Bonds each worth $50.

Rose Chow was born in Vancouver, BC in 1913 to famed photographer Yucho Chow, and his wife, Quon Shee.

Within the Vancouver area, her father’s studio provided much of the photo documentation required of Chinese people in Canada under the government's Chinese Immigration Act. In her young adulthood, she sat for portraits in the Yucho Chow Studio. However, unlike some of her siblings, Rose did not work in the family business, due to developing a heart condition called mitral stenosis after suffering years of rheumatic fever. Instead, she worked as a homemaker and was a helper to her parents and family.

In 1943, she married CHAN Fong Kay. Her sister, Jessie Chow, would later be married to Chan’s 3rd cousin. Both sisters ended up moving to Sydney, Nova Scotia and later to Moncton, New Brunswick with their husbands, where later their children were born.

According to her son, Gene Chan, Rose experienced racial discrimination during her time on the East Coast: “I recall that on a driving trip from Moncton to Montreal in the early 1950s, she tried to get [a] motel room for the family in Bangor, Maine. She was [initially] refused, then called back in from the parking lot and [was] allowed to register.”

In 1951, Rose received the first mitral valve commissurotomy surgery in Canada at the hands of cardiac surgeon Jean-Paul David, who would go on a few years later to establish the world-famous Montreal Heart Institute. This open-heart surgery was a risky procedure; there were no heart-lung machines at that time, and according to her son Dr. Kenneth H. Chan, it was only the thirteenth ever attempted.

Rose would go on to live another fifty years. Sadly, her husband would pass in 1957, just 14 years after their marriage. She had very limited driving experience, and her sons were too young to drive. Her sons remember “In short order, she had the courage to take on the driving trip from Moncton to Montreal for a follow-up checkup to her heart surgery.”

In 2002, Rose died in New Westminster, leaving behind her two sons and many grandchildren.

Chow Shee was born in China, ca. 1885, a native of Mow Kong in the 開平 Hoiping / Kaiping district in 廣東 Guangdong province. She was adopted and became the youngest of five children. At some point, the family relocated to Hong Kong where she adopted the anglicized name of Elizabeth.

Her eldest brother introduced her to her future husband, LEE Heme Woo (LEE Woo). He was born in 廣東 Guangdong province in 1883, and had travelled to Canada in 1902 at age of 19. Elizabeth married Lee Woo in Hong Kong at Wesley United Church in 1912, becoming Lee Chow Shee and Mrs. Lee Woo.

After the wedding, Lee Woo returned to work in Canada. Shortly thereafter, he sent for Elizabeth and their firstborn son, John (Yue Wah) who was born on November 5, 1912. Elizabeth, now aged 27, and their son sailed on the Empress of Russia steamship, arriving in Victoria, B.C. on November 22, 1913.

Elizabeth and Lee Woo went on to have 10 more children within a period of seventeen years. In total, they had two boys and nine girls. This was not uncommon at that time amongst new Chinese families who settled in Victoria.

Elizabeth’s husband worked at various jobs: at a chemical plant; at Palm Dairy; and later at Wayside House as a cook and housekeeper. Lee Woo was also a founding elder of the Chinese Presbyterian Church (CPC).

Elizabeth was an active and very social member of the CPC Women’s Group. All her children were dedicated church members participating in many of its activities and sports teams.

A devoted mother, Elizabeth efficiently managed the household. She sewed dresses, skirts, pants, coats, for her children; washed the laundry by hand; grew vegetables and beautiful roses; raised pigeons (for medicine) and chickens; preserved fruits and vegetables; made jams; and was well known for her delicious “toffee”.

Elizabeth was credited with treating and saving her daughter, Daisy, from undiagnosed tuberculosis. She also corrected her daughter, Rose’s crooked legs.

Elizabeth was strict, but is remembered as a kind and loving mother. The family lived on Blanchard Street close to the Memorial Arena for many years. The Lee family home was a beehive of activity with all the children and their friends. Eventually, her 11 children gave her 38 grandchildren, most of whom were born after she passed away.

Elizabeth died from complications of gastrointestinal issues, and eventually heart failure on September 9, 1950, at the age of 64. She is buried next to her husband at Royal Oak Cemetery in Victoria.

CHOW Bing Oh (later known as Wayne Oh CHOW) was born in China on October 10, 1911, in [開平 Hoiping / Kaiping]. Throughout his early childhood, his father worked as a cook in Canada to make money to support his family. Wayne’s older brother, Henry, came first to Canada to join their father.

When Wayne was 11, he joined his father and older brother in Canada. His father paid the $500 head tax for him to enter Canada. Immigration officials often gave English names to those Chinese, and he became known as Wayne.

Upon arrival, Wayne was met by his father, who was working at the time as a caretaker handyman for a dairy farm and orchard in Duncan, BC. However, shortly after landing in Canada, Wayne’s father returned to China, and he never saw him again. His brother Henry, who was 17 years older, became Wayne's guardian in Canada.

Wayne followed his brother, who was travelling from community to community looking for work. He initially went to school in Tofield and St. Paul, Alberta. In the latter town, he worked in his brother’s restaurant before school, during lunch breaks, and after school. In Victoria, he attended both Chinese and English schools. He graduated from high school in Wilkie, Saskatchewan.

Wayne wanted to become an electrical engineer but didn’t have enough money to attend university. Instead, he worked a variety of jobs, including: as a houseboy and valet for the Rogers Sugar family in Vancouver; as a Wurlitzer jukebox repairman in Northern BC and Alberta; and as a waiter and restaurant manager throughout Western Canada.

Around 1944, he first visited Prince George; a few years later he returned with his brother. Starting in 1946, Wayne and Henry leased and operated an existing restaurant—the Shasta Cafe.

In 1953, Wayne met Eleanor Marr in Victoria. She was a seamstress and third-generation Chinese Canadian. They were married the following year and settled in Prince George, where Wayne continued to run the Shasta. The couple had four children, all born and raised in Prince George.

When the lease for the Shasta expired in 1956, the building’s owner refused to renew it, so Wayne and Henry bought a lot down the street to build a new restaurant. There, they opened the New Shasta Cafe in 1957, which became one of the largest and most popular restaurants in early Prince George. Wayne ran the restaurant until he retired in 1972.

Wayne was active in the Prince George community as a member of the Kiwanis Club, where he helped fundraise, host social events, and support local projects. He was also an active member of the town's Chinese Canadian community. He helped translate and arrange English classes for new immigrants. He also helped establish a building for the Chee Duck Tong, a benevolent Chinese heritage society, so it could provide single Chinese men in Canada with accommodation and a home.

Wayne passed away in Prince George at the age of 92 on March 27, 2004.

Known in Canada as Charlie Chow, Chow Shang arrived in Canada aboard the S.S. Victoria in 1899 and settled in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Charlie was the younger brother of Vancouver’s first and most prolific Chinese photographer, Yucho Chow. Although he was younger, he arrived in Canada before his older brother. Generally, the oldest son was picked to travel first to Gold Mountain.

Charlie ran a grocery store catering to the Chinese community, many of them labourers who had arrived to work on the railway. For a time, he even managed the Canadian Pacific Railway dining room in Moose Jaw.

Around 1910, he married Mary Feica who was from a Romanian immigrant family. She was only 17 years old and Charlie was her Chinese boss at the CPR restaurant where she worked. The mixed-race marriage was considered scandalous at the time. Despite prevailing attitudes, the couple would go on to have eight children and two adopted children.

Charlie applied for and became a Canadian citizen in 1955.

He passed away in June 27, 1957.

CHOW Chung Dip was born in China on August 29, 1906. He was 14 years old when he arrived in Victoria, B.C. in 1920, joining his father, uncle, a brother and a half brother who were already in Canada. He would be known sometimes as Robin Chow in this new country.

Over his lifetime, Chung Dip made an living working in restaurants, the grocery business, and in gambling establishments where he took on a management role. He also was a landlord of an apartment building.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Chung Dip travelled to places like Calgary, Lethbridge and Saskatoon, assigned to re-organize gambling establishments in those cities. He often would be gone for 2-3 months at a time.

In terms of family life, around 1924 or 1925, he returned to China to marry. They had a daughter, but sadly, his wife died eight years later. So, Chung Dip returned to China around 1933, and married a second time. He would have two children with his second wife, Dang Gim Gee: a daughter and a son.

In 1947, after the repeal of the hated 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, he traveled again to China. It would be the only family reunion. By then, the Chinese Revolution was gaining steam. Chung Dip returned to Vancouver in 1948 and began making preparations to sponsor his family to Canada under family reunification.

By then, his daughters had married American soldiers and had immigrated to the United States. So only his second wife and son Jimmy journeyed to Canada after they had fled first to Hong Kong. Mother and son travelled by plane from Hong Kong to Tokyo, to Hawaii, to Fairbanks, Alaska before finally landing in Vancouver in 1950.

Jimmy remembers the disagreements his father had with his mother over religion. “My Father practised and followed Confucian philosophy. My mother was a Buddhist. I remember the heated arguments and disagreements my parents would have while discussing the two different philosophies. Their solution to the two philosophies for me? Since we were in Canada, they both encouraged me to attend a Christian Church with my friends. We only spoke Chinese at home and they thought the Church would improve my English. I grew up with three philosophies - this has given me a broader view of life.”

Chung Dip died on December 10, 1990 shortly before Christmas that year. He never did return to China despite numerous opportunities. His home and his family were now in Canada.

After a month at sea aboard the freighter Inaba Maru, 20-year old Chow Fun arrived in Victoria on July 19, 1911 and paid the $500 head tax to enter Canada.

At some point, Chow Fun left Victoria for the B.C. mainland. By 1924, he was living in Mission City and working as a labourer. His family believes he worked at one time as a farmer, then a laundryman and, later in life, as a waiter.

Chow Fun traveled back to China twice. On these visits, he fathered two daughters: Lai Ping and Lai Kwan. Following the repeal of the Exclusion Act, Chow Fun applied for and was granted Canadian citizenship in 1954.

The following year, he sponsored a “paper son” to Canada. CHOW Chew-Leong was, in fact, Fun’s son-in-law married to his daughter, Lai Kwan. It would take another decade before Lai Kwan arrived in Vancouver in 1965 with her two children: George (14) and John (10). Fun’s other daughter, Lai Ping, and her family were sponsored by a Winnipeg church as a refugee family and landed in Winnipeg in 1963.

Even with his family in Canada, Chow Fun continued to live a solitary existence. In Vancouver, his daughter, Lai Kwan and her husband were busy trying to survive and earn a living.

After decades on his own, Chow Fun was familiar with and comfortable with the bachelor’s life. He continued to live independently in a rooming house in Chinatown where he rented a tiny room with a hotplate and a shared washroom down the hall. At one point, Chow Fun lived in the back of the same building as his daughter at 634 Main. Generally, he was quiet around his family and kept to himself.

Chow Fun died in 1976. He passed away knowing he had done his job well. He had sustained his family in China for years on what were likely meagre wages and had managed to get them all safely over to Canada after the repeal.

His grandson, George King Chow, would go on to become a mechanical engineer, and become involved in municipal and provincial politics, with the City of Vancouver and Province of British Columbia, respectively. In fact, in his role as minister in the B.C. government, George Chow would be instrumental in establishing the Chinese Canadian Museum of B.C., an institution dedicated to sharing the story of the Chinese Canadian experience.

CHOW Gwie Toy arrived in Canada in 1917.

He worked on the railroad, then later became the third owner of Richmond Growers located in British Columbia.