Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Yee, Jun Ho
Parallel form(s) of name
- 余轉好
- 馬余轉好
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Other form(s) of name
- Wong, Jun Ho
- Foo, Jun Ho
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Description area
Dates of existence
1906-1979
History
YEE Jun-Ho was born in China on March 8, 1906. She arrived in Vancouver aboard the S.S. Senator on August 16, 1918. She travelled with prominent Vancouver businessman, Yip Sang’s second wife, Wong Shee; Wong’s recently married son Yip Kew-Gin and his new wife; another Yip adult; and four children.
Jun-Ho may have been related to Wong Shee or Kew-Gin’s new bride. It’s theorized that Jun-Ho’s family fell on hard times and could no longer support her, so the Yips agreed to bring her to Canada. An identity certificate was purchased for her use; Jun-Ho travelled under the surname Wong, posing as a 9-year-old student from Mar Kow in Hang San. It is assumed that the Yip family, who were wealthy merchants, purchased the papers for her. Jun-Ho’s son, Ken Foo recalls, “I was with Mom when Mrs. Kew-Gin Yip introduced Mom to the actual certificate owner, a waitress at the BC Royal Cafe. They had a very friendly, good-natured visit before the waitress had to get back to work.” Ken also notes, “Mom always said she was a Yee from Dong Gwan. She was fluent in Sumyap, which I guess she learned when young, and not after she came to Canada. Mom was very fluent in both Sumyap and Seiyap and knew spoken English.”
In Vancouver, Jun-Ho lived in the Wing Sang building at 51 Pender Street and served as a governess to the Yip Kew-Gin children as well as other children in the Yip clan. She was popular with the Yip family, who treated her as a family member. Decades later, members of the Yip family would recall Jun-Ho with fondness. She remained very close friends with Kew-Gin and his wife for her entire life.
On September 27, 1927, Jun-Ho married MARR On-Foo (who had entered Canada as MAH Foo-Tong). The Yip family had planned to host a reception for Jun-Ho’s wedding, but the patriarch Yip Sang died that year and the celebration had to be cancelled. The couple had a quiet ceremony and moved to Bashaw, Alberta where On-Foo operated the Sincere Café.
In 1940, Jun-Ho, On-Foo, and their children moved to Edmonton, where they opened a grocery store. They worked long hours 7 days a week to support their growing family and send their children to good schools. She believed education was the path to success and expected all her children to attend university.
Jun-Ho’s son Ken Foo recalls,“Mom was loving, kind and gentle, with never a harsh word, always encouraging, and rarely critical. She was a tremendous cook who overfed us children, out of love.” Her grandchildren remember the vegetable garden she tended at her home in Edmonton and her delicious food and baking that were always a part of her visits to Vancouver.
Jun-Ho passed away on February 14, 1979, leaving behind six children: Edmund, Edwin, Kenden, Jeanmae, Edward (Eddy), and Edson, as well as 22 grandchildren. She is buried in the Edmonton Cemetery beside her husband Marr On-Foo.
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