Leon M. Zolbrod was a pioneer scholar of traditional Japanese literature who first came into contact with Japan during his service with the American military in 1948 and later taught English there. Zolbrod earned his MA and Ph.D. degrees in Japanese literature from Columbia. He taught at the University of Indiana and then Kansas before moving to the University of British Columbia in 1967, where he taught Japanese language and literature for twenty-three years. Much of Zolbrod's research and publication activities focussed on making the literature of Edo Japan more accessible to Western audiences. His first book was Takizawa Bakin (1967), and he later edited and translated Ugetsu Monogatari (1975). In addition, Zolbrod completed a significant study tentatively entitled Reluctant Genius: The Life and Work of Buson, a Japanese Master of Haiku and Painting, not published. Leon Zolbrod passed away in Vancouver on April 16, 1991.

Dorothy Zoellner, nee Whitham (1929-2020) attended elementary and secondary school in Kelowna, graduating in 1947. She then attended university in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a teaching certificate in 1951. During her time at UBC, she met William J. “W.J.” Zoellner, whom she married in 1953 in Kelowna. The couple had two sons. The family lived variously in Victoria, Courtenay, and Nelson, and finally settled back in Kelowna in 1973. Zoellner was a teacher at Kelowna Secondary School and retired from this position in 1987. Zoellner also wrote for the Kelowna Daily Courier, was the president of the Okanagan Historical Society from 1987-1988, and actively participated in various historical and community events in the city. Acting as a tour guide along with Alice Lundy, Zoellner led tours around the region focusing on the area’s history. The two went on to publish two self-guided tour books, Tours Made Easy (1990) and More Tours Made Easy (1995). Dorothy Zoellner passed away in April 2020.

Glennis was born April 5, 1935 in Parkman, Saskatchewan. She grew up in New Westminster, B.C. and attended Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia School of Nursing, graduating in 1957 and 1958 respectively. She later received a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University in 1969 and a Master of Arts in Communications from Simon Fraser University in 1981.

Glennis’s diverse working life has included positions at Maple Ridge Hospital; New South Wales, Australia; and the Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster (as an instructor). She was an Assistant Editor for The Canadian Nurse from 1963 to 1969 and an editor/reporter for the Canadian Press from 1969-1972. She states that she found the most interesting aspects of her career the combination of nursing and journalism for The Canadian Nurse and The Canadian Press, and later as a freelancer in medical journalism.

From 1973 she has been a freelance writer, editor and writing consultant, working mainly with individuals and organizations in health care areas. A special area of interest is history of nursing and health care. She has a long list of publications and other professional credentials, including editing eight volumes of proceedings published by various health care associations or universities. As a writing consultant she has been a resource person for many workshops and a guest speaker at public lectures and meetings. She has been active in many professional organizations.

Jacob Zilber taught creative writing at the University of British Columbia from 1957 to 1989. He served as chairman of the University of British Columbia's Creative Writing Committee before establishing the UBC's Department of Creative Writing in 1965. Zilber was also one of the founders of UBC's Prism magazine and served as its editor from 1966 to 1973. Jacob Zilber was born on May 15, 1924, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin in 1948, earning Honors in General Scholarship. He went on to study a Masters of Arts from the University of Washington in 1957.
Zilber joined UBC's Department of English in 1957 as a Lecturer until 1962, when he became an Assistant Professor. In 1965 he held the position of Associate Professor and became a full Professor by 1975. Zilber held memberships in various professional and learned societies such as CAUT and the UBC Faculty Association. He was also a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, the first director of the B.C. Writers Service and served as a judge for the ACTRA awards. As a prolific writer, Zilber's literary work has appeared in various Canadian and American magazines, while his plays have been presented in Vancouver and off-Broadway in New York. In addition, a co-written screenplay, The Inbreaker (1974), became a feature film produced by the Bob Elliott Film Company of Vancouver. Zilber retired from teaching in 1989.

Sheila Zerr was born and raised in Powell River, B.C., and graduated from the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. She continued her studies with a BSc in Public Health Nursing in 1967 and an MEd in Psychopedagogy in 1971 from the University of Ottawa. As a staff nurse she worked in Vancouver, Fredericton and Ottawa. She taught at the Ottawa General Hospital, the University of Ottawa, the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.

Sheila’s many achievements have been recognized in awards including a medal commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne. She also received an Award of Distinction in 1999 from RNABC for her outstanding contribution to nursing in Canada and a number of honorary life memberships.

Her community and professional involvements include chairing the Planning Committee for the International History of Nursing Conference in 1997, and Committee Chairperson for the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing, Learned Societies Conference, in 1989. She has been active as a consultant in the production of films and books.
Her own writing includes co-authoring Pharamacology and the Nursing Process and a chapter in Fundamentals of Nursing. She initiated ASA research to increase people’s awareness of the effects of non-prescription drugs and was active in the St. John’s Ambulance Child Care in the Home program. More recent interests include nursing in the north and a book on the pioneer nurse Gertrude Richards Ladner. Sheila has raised over $15,000 for HoN scholarships by handcrafting a collection of miniature historical nursing figures. Her creation of dolls has been a long time interest, with their costumes used to portray the development of nursing.

Sheila is a founding member of the BCHoN Society and was instrumental in initiating the oral history project. She has remained involved with the Royal Jubilee hospital and the School of Nursing Alumnae, and ensured Begbie Hall, at RJH, was selected as a residence worthy of National Historic significance. Sheila has been an active member of the community, serving on various committees to improve health care, particularly the Delta Health Care Association.

YUN Kong arrived in Victoria in 1911 as a 30-year-old labourer, and paid the $500 head tax to enter Canada. He hailed from the district of Sunning which would later be known as Toisan.

YUEN Wing Cheung was born June 7, 1911 in Victoria B.C.

In 1931, when Wing Cheung was 21 years of age, he travelled to China where he met his future wife Yet Ping Chan. They had a daughter (Sue Jing). Wing Cheung stayed in China until he was forced to leave in 1937. By this time, his wife was pregnant with their second child (Art Ming).

Upon returning to Victoria, Wing Cheung worked in various jobs as a labourer in order to earn and send money to his family back in China. One of his work friends gave him the English name Tony.

In 1950, after the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Wing Cheung was able to send for his family to join him in Canada. He met his son for the first time, who was by then 13 years old.

Wing Cheung and Yet Ping had four more children: Lauren (Sue Yin), Karen (Sue Mae), Daryl (Art Pang) and Sharyn (Sue Seng).

A devoted husband and father, Wing Cheung provided a home and happy upbringing for his wife and six children. He was very content in nurturing his backyard vegetable garden as well as his beautiful geraniums and dahlias.

Wing Cheung passed away in 1983 after a short battle with cancer.

His son, Daryl Yuen, recalls: “I can still vividly remember my father walking with me (as a young boy) many times to Victoria’s Chinatown. There he would seat me at the counter of the Embassy Café where I would lose myself in strawberry milkshakes and warm Chinese butter horns.”

YUE Yuen Lim was born in China in 1910 and arrived in Canada in 1921. One family source says there was already a relative living in Canada.

Known in Canada as Gordon Yee, he eventually settled in Saskatchewan and the small town of Naicam located about 224 kilometres north of Regina. There he ran a café.

He travelled back to China around 1925, likely to an arranged marriage. There, Gordon’s wife had a son but the child died. The family then adopted a boy to fill in for this lost son.

At some point, Gordon’s first wife died in China. He visited China again in the mid-to late 1930s and may have married a second time while on this trip. While living in Gordon’s village, his second wife WONG Kim Mee adopted a son who would later be given the English name Guy.

Gordon would not be reunited with Kim Mee or his son Guy until 1950 when he sponsored them to join him in Canada after the repeal of the Exclusion Act. In Saskatchewan, Kim Mee gave birth to two boys: Vernon, then Paul. The couple worked together running the café.

Paul recalls a family story: “After Gordon’s wife arrived in Saskatchewan in 1950, he taught her to work in the café kitchen. She became adept at making jelly rolls, a thin, soft cake rolled into logs around a filling. Gordon’s café was busy, as the inter-town bus pulled in regularly at his spot. The café’s outhouses at the back were used by the bus customers. Sometimes, someone mischievous would flick the outside door catch, leaving the person inside to thump the walls and holler for help.”

Gordon passed away in 1957. A year later Kim Mee died too, leaving the two young boys as orphans.

An elderly aunt and uncle in Vancouver took in six-year-old Vernon. Meanwhile, the younger boy, Paul, was placed in a foster home in Saskatchewan. “I was fostered out to a white family who were ready to adopt me. But my aunt decided that the brothers should be kept together, and so I was taken to Vancouver too.”

YUE Bing Wai was born September 26, 1892 in the village of Hueng Ha, [番禺 Punyu / Panyu] county, approximately 100 miles north of Guangzhou, in the 廣東 Guangdong province. His parents were farmers and Bing was the second of three boys.

After two years of schooling, Bing learned basic reading and writing, then left school to work on his parent’s farm.

At 19 years of age, Bing left for Canada. He was given $500 for the head tax; $50 for passage; and a bit extra for living expenses. The trip took the life savings of his entire family and four other families. Bing arrived in Victoria on July 20, 1912, and spent two days in quarantine.

Bing first travelled to Nanaimo for work: a job at a Chinese laundry that provided room and board and a salary of 5 cents per day for a 14-hour work day. Later, he worked as a ditch digger, then a labourer at a sawmill. The pay was 10 cents per hour for a 10-hour workday.

In November 1919, Bing moved to Vancouver and bought his first property in Point Grey: 20 acres on which he built a shack and started farming.

In 1922, at age 30, Bing made his first trip back to China. He repaid one of the families that supported his trip to Canada by marrying their first daughter. Bing stayed for one year but was unable to bring his wife to Canada due to the passing of the Exclusion Act.

Bing visited China again in 1935. When Japan invaded China, he returned to Canada and partnered with some friends and relatives to open a Chinese restaurant which he helped run for the next five years.

In 1946, Bing returned to his village. On this trip, he learned the Japanese had destroyed most of his village. His parents, wife, and child were dead. He decided to fulfill his obligation to the three other families by building three houses and marrying a daughter from each. Over the course of his life, Bing would marry five times.

By the time the Exclusion Act was repealed in 1947, Bing had saved enough money to bring Soo Jow Ho (wife #5) and his son, Tai Bin (from wife #4) to Canada. They joined him in 1952.

Bing and Soo Jow Ho had three children in Canada: Chuck Sun, May Lan, and Chuck Lem. In 1961, Bing saved enough money to buy a farm in South Burnaby. He also had another child, Chuck Hing, although his oldest son, Tai Bin, passed away in 1967.

In 1972, just before his 80th birthday, Bing sold the farm and retired to a house in East Vancouver. Bing enjoyed retirement for four and a half years. In early January 1977, less than 300 feet from home, Bing was struck and killed by a young driver while crossing the intersection.

His children fondly recall “When we were growing up on the farm in South Burnaby, our Dad would often let us kids sell vegetables to people who came directly to the farm to buy them. Often the four of us kids would scramble to be the first one to greet the “buyers” as we would get to keep the money from what we sold. We learned how to greet customers, handle cash, and be responsible. Often Dad would laugh with the customers as we held the “money” in our hands. Of course, back in those days, you could buy a bunch of green onions for 10 cents which now costs about $1.99.”

YOUNG Yuen Sim was born in China on February 17, 1899. He was 19 years old when he arrived in Canada to begin a new life. He found work as a labourer for the railroad.

By 1924, he was working as a farmhand and living in Vancouver at 545 Carrall Street.

A story passed down in the family is that, at some point, Yuen Sim was offered the opportunity to serve someone else’s jail time in exchange for cash. Yuen Sim accepted the offer. Once the prison sentence was served and he was released, he used the funds to purchase farmland, growing produce and likely supplying the local Chinatown markets.

Yuen Sim travelled to China twice in the early/mid-1920s. He was married and had three sons there, but his first wife passed away too soon. He found love again in Canada, marrying a widow who herself had a young son. With his second wife, Yuen Sim had two more sons and a daughter.

On May 6, 1969 he passed away at the age of 70.

Walter Young was born in 1933. He received a BA in Honours History and English at UBC in 1955. He went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He gained a further BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics in 1957 and an MA in 1962. On his return to Canada, Young taught political science in Manitoba and Toronto. He then returned to UBC in 1962 as an instructor in political science. Young received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1965; his thesis was titled The National CCF: Political Party and Political Movement. Young remained at UBC until 1973 when he moved to the University of Victoria as Chairman of the Department of Political Science. While at UBC, Young was very active in faculty and administrative affairs. He worked with several committees, was co-chairman of the new Arts I programme and was deeply involved in collecting materials for the Angus MacInnis Memorial Collection for the UBC Library Special Collections Division. He continued his writing career during this period, completing two books and many articles and book reviews. His primary scholarly interest was Canadian socialism. Young wrote books and papers on M.J. Coldwell, the CCF, the NDP, and socialism as a whole. He was also a founding member of the NDP, worked actively for the Ontario NDP while living in Toronto, and was vice-president of British Columbia's NDP in the mid-1960s. He was involved primarily in research, advertising, and policy-making. Young was also founder and co-editor of BC Studies and founded and directed the BC Legislative Internship Programme. He died in 1984.

Norman Woon-Won Young was born in 1913 in Sek Kung Hang village, near the city of Canton, Guangdong province. In the 1890s, his father, Ying-Woon Young had journeyed to Canada and established a produce farm in Steveston, BC. He returned to China in 1911/1912, hoping to bring his wife to Canada. However, due to the civil unrest in China at that time, he was unable to obtain an exit visa for her. His wife died shortly after giving birth to Norman in 1913 and Ying-Woon decided to leave the infant in the care of relatives until he was old enough to travel.

In the meantime, Ying-Woon had to return to Canada, lest his property be deemed by the government to be abandoned if left for over a year and subsequently confiscated. Ying-woon worked 10 years to send money for Norman’s care in China, raise funds for his passage, and pay for the head tax which had been increased to $500.

In July 1923, at the age of 10, Norman travelled alone in steerage to Canada. The journey took two months and he was quarantined in Victoria for a month before finally meeting his father for the first time.

As Norman was still too young to help with the farm work, Ying-Woon left him in the care of relatives in Duncan, BC. He attended elementary school in Duncan, learned English, and finally joined his father in Steveston in 1929. From 1929-1938, he worked for his father harvesting and transporting produce to various Chinese restaurants in Vancouver. Through his deliveries, he became acquainted with the Lim brothers, Harold and Wilbert, who had purchased the original W.K. Gardens built in 1920, and had renovated and expanded the restaurant into a two-storey establishment. By 1938, the W.K. Gardens was considered the premier restaurant for hosting dignitaries, Hollywood movie stars, and celebrities.

Through his friendship with the Lim brothers, Norman was introduced to their younger sister, Elsie. Norman and Elsie were married in 1942 and had four children, Marjorie, Wayne, Wallace, and Howard. They lived in Vancouver where Norman managed to buy several properties: a home for the family and two rental properties for additional income.

Through his connections with local produce and food suppliers and the Lim family, he became the supply manager at W.K. Gardens from 1940-1965. From 1965-67, he registered as an able seaman with the Department of Transport and worked at BC Ferries, and from 1968-79, he was a cook and food services manager at CN Rail. His work took him away from family for weeks at a time. When he was home, his favourite relaxation was watching the TV show, “Bonanza”, because he loved the “Hop Sin” character.

Norman passed away in 1980 due to cardiac issues and a life-long smoking habit.

YONG Jack Sang was born around 1900 in China. Arriving in Canada in 1918, he settled in Vancouver and worked for various lumber companies. He would be shipped out to a location and work five straight days, then be sent back home for the weekend.

By 1923/24, Jack Sang was 25 years old, living in a rooming house at 545 Carrall Street, and working as a labourer. Jack Sang's hands were very calloused from years of hard work. It was noted that he could grab a hornet with his bare hands and not worry about being stung while crushing it.

He was married but it appears he only visited China twice, returning to Canada in 1926 and again in 1935. The first time he travelled back to China was to marry his first wife who would pre-decease Jack Sang. In 1935, at 36, he went back to marry his second wife, Lin Chow.

Later in life, Jack Sang’s wife came to Canada. They lived in a room in Chinatown that was so small that their double bed and dresser took up all the available space.

Jack was renowned for having quite the temper and therefore wasn’t always a popular man. However, his grandchildren recall he was a doting grandfather. Jack promised to buy his granddaughter, Elaine, a car when she got older so that she could drive him around.

Jack Sang passed away in April, 1972.

Chack Nam Yipp (also known as Jack Nam Yipp) was born in Victoria on October 13, 1899. He was the only child of Yip Wing (also known as Ah Wing and Yip Wing Foo) and his third wife, Thom Shee.

Jack was described as a sickly and fussy child. But what he lacked in good health he made up for in intelligence. He did well in public school and often made honour roll (i.e., Proficiency in 1914 and 1915, and Punctuality and Attendance in 1915).

Aspiring to be a mining engineer, Jack attended the University of British Columbia and obtained his Junior Matriculation Certificate. However, realizing there was little opportunity for someone Chinese to practice engineering in Canada, in 1918, Jack applied for an “educational sabbatical” and left for New York to attend Columbia University. It appears he ran low on money so worked for a time at a Chinese newspaper all the while battling stomach problems. He also spent some time job hunting in Chicago.

Jack kept a diary. It was from these pages that his family gleaned what his life was like in those early years. They summarized it as follows: “He had kidney trouble but it gets better; doesn’t sleep well at night; sleeps late into the morning; likes to play dice; ...likes to go to movies, circus; photography where he often developed his own pictures; got a job selling washing machines in Newark; travelled to Montreal, Toronto, the Thousand Islands, Kingston, Niagara Falls, back to Toronto, Montreal and Staten Island (went to Central Park and went to a baseball game).”

Jack was back in Canada by the early 1920s. He did a variety of jobs including opening a grocery store called The Wong Bros. with his partner, Liam Lowe. By the late 1930s, he was running Central Produce on Fort Street which sold flowers, fruit and some curios. Jack also served for many years as a court interpreter for the Victoria Police.

He married Eva Lowe (Oi Lowe) in what was likely a Chinese wedding that was not registered with the Province of British Columbia. Together they would have eight children with the first one arriving in 1921: May Fong (b. 1921), Margaret Ngai Louie (b. 1922), Mildred Keen (b. 1923), Fred (b. 1926), Betty Ying (b. 1927), Florence Chan (b. 1929), Cynthia Sam (b. 1931), and Vivian Yipp (b. 1932).

Sadly, Eva would pass away in 1944 at only 42 years old.

Later in life, and on his own again, Jack travelled extensively through Europe and Asia.

As daughter, Florence Yipp Chan, recalls of her childhood: “They were typical Chinese parents. Very little touching, never, except when I was taken to the hospital and dentist for an abscessed tooth by father. There were floats and I remember wearing a Chinese cheongsam and sitting on one. He brought home food cooked from restaurants in metal-tiered containers.”

Jack passed away April 28, 1976.

YIP Wing Yen was born in 1922 in Vancouver, BC. His English name was Yen Yip.

His father was a bookkeeper for the Wing Sang company; he also worked as a ‘doorman’ for one of the Chinese gambling halls in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

During WWII, Yen attended UBC and graduated in 1945 with a degree in Agriculture. The family believes that, at some point while in university, he did some army training with the Reserves.

As an adult, Yen found work as a supervisor for a fruit and vegetable wholesaler.

He married Effie Fung Ming WOO and they had three sons.

One of his sons recalls, “Dad would always take us over to Victoria to stay at Uncle Allen’s ‘Fork Lake’ cabin during every school holiday break, something that we will always remember!”

Yen passed away in Vancouver in December 1999.

Mickey Yip was born YIP May Woo in 1924 in Vancouver to YIP Sing and LEE Shee. Mickey was the youngest of nine children. Her father was a nephew of Chinatown pioneer Yip Sang.

Mickey grew up in a big house in East Vancouver with her siblings and later with some of her in-laws and nieces and nephews as well. They all shared one bathroom. She excelled in athletics at a young age, becoming a midget champion.

After WWII, Mickey married Henry Soone who had returned from serving in the US Navy. When Henry found a job in California, Mickey and Henry settled in Oakland. They had three children: Wendy, Greg, and Lisa.

Though the couple was able to buy a house, their housing choices were often more limited in those early years due to discrimination. Mickey recalled being treated badly by a hospital nurse when Lisa was born because the nurse mistook Mickey for a Korean in the aftermath of the Korean War.

Mickey did not work when her children were younger. After they matured, she worked in retail sales and in a series of clerical positions.

Upon retirement, Mickey and Henry lived in Oakland for a number of years before moving back to Vancouver in their final years.

Her only son, Greg, shares a memory of Mickey. “Mom was infamous for never divulging her age. In fact, she even got mad when I revealed my age. Anyone who tried to guess her age was usually way off the mark due to her ageless beauty.”

Mickey passed away in 2016.

Lilyanne was born YIP May Yim in 1917, the fifth of nine children born to YIP Sing, a nephew of the well-known Vancouver Chinatown businessman Yip Sang.

Lilyanne was raised in Vancouver and spent her earliest years growing up in the Wing Sang building with the extended Yip Sang family members. She had favorite memories of the many weddings, Chinese New Year celebrations, and any other occasions for a party, where everyone gathered in the great room of the building. She was the youngest of the five siblings born at the Wing Sang. As her family grew larger, they eventually moved to their own home at Turner Street and Victoria Drive.

As a teenager, Lilyanne enjoyed working as a companion for a woman who lived in Shaughnessy. Like many of the Chinese Canadian women during the 1940s, as an adult, Lilyanne worked in produce stores, but mainly at the family-owned Rose Coffee Shop at Richards and Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver.

Lilyanne had one daughter, Gwen, from a previous marriage. She later married Peter Barbanoff, a Russian Canadian, whom she met at the Rose Coffee Shop. They worked happily together, running several cafes and were married for over 60 years.

Lilyanne was blessed with two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She lived a long and healthy life to 101 years.

Lucille (Lucy) May YIP was born YIP Mee/May Gawn on March 14, 1914 in the Wing Sang building at 53 East Pender Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Her grandfather was prominent community leader, Yip Sang, the proprietor of the Wing Sang Company which provided labour contracting and import-export services to the Far East. Lucy’s father, YIP Kew Yow, was the eldest of YIP Sang’s nineteen sons. He worked for the Royal Bank of Canada.

Lucy left Vancouver for Hong Kong in 1933 with an older sister and younger brother. There, she met and married Yan Kwok, an employee of the French Bank. The couple had one daughter—Gladys Patricia Kwok—in 1937.

The Japanese invasion of Hong Kong brought additional difficulties for the family; their home would be occupied by Japanese forces for three months. Once the war ended, Lucy returned to Vancouver in 1948 and worked for the H.Y. Louie Co. Ltd. until her retirement. In 1950, she had another daughter, Christina Fyffe, with a former Hong Kong Police Inspector in Kamloops, B.C.

Life in Canada was not always easy; according to her daughter, Christina, Lucy remembered visiting a butcher shop and “being ignored by a butcher and left standing while he handled requests from the Caucasian customers.”

Lucy passed away in 1988 in Oliver, BC.

YIP Doo Tong (George Yip) was born in Cranbrook, B.C. on November 25, 1921. His father, YIP Chong Ban (aka YIP Chung Ben), ran a produce and grocery store on Durick Avenue in Cranbrook.

George completed Grade 8 and then was sent to China where he lived from 1933-1938. Upon returning to Canada in 1938, George spent three months working in a fish cannery in Prince Rupert. By 1939 he had moved to Vancouver and for five years worked as a clerk at the Shaughnessy Market, a produce store at 2915 Granville Street. He earned about $25 a week in that job.

Like many young Chinese men in Canada, George was willing to fight for Canada during WWII despite the discrimination faced by his community. He joined the Army on November 15, 1944 and did his basic training in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. George then volunteered to become a member of Force 136: a clandestine group of fighters trained and led by the British Special Operations Executive. These soldiers of Force 136 were trained in jungle survival and guerrilla warfare, and were sent on missions to undertake sabotage and espionage in Japanese-occupied territories.

George spent some time in London, England, and was then shipped to India for the final leg of training and to await his first assignment. He was stationed in Meerut, India and was being trained as a wireless radio operator. Fortunately, the war ended before George was assigned to any dangerous missions.

George was discharged on April 26, 1946 and later was awarded the Burma Star.

Within a couple of years, he married Tso Shee (aka Yip Chow Shee who was born December 28, 1922 in Canton, China). Together, they had two children: Ray and Ken.

Taking advantage of the Veterans Land Grant program, George acquired a 5-acre parcel of land on Byrne Road in Burnaby. There he operated a produce farm until his death in September 1971.

YIP Wing See (aka Cecil Yip) – “Cec” to his many friends – was the 32nd grandchild of Yip Sang 葉生. He was the eldest son of Yip Kew Sheck 葉求鑠 (1900-1963) and Chew Wai Ming 趙慧明 (1902-1972). He was born at 51 East Pender Street and was five when Yip Sang passed away.

Cecil was a good student. Like many other Chinatown kids, he went to Chinese school after regular school, for nine long years. He was a Cub, a Boy Scout, an Army Cadet, and a track and field all-star, graduating from King George High School in 1940. At the Wing Sang compound, he was surrounded by boys who were always ready for an impromptu game. Soccer was a family passion: including Quene Yip (1905-94), at least twenty-one Yips played for the Chinese Athletics over the years, including Cecil in 1946. He dreamed of using his athletic and scholastic skills for college and a career.

He was born the year before the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act and his life was shaped by it. Canadian born, he was registered as an immigrant on June 11, 1924. He was 27 when he voted for the first time. Not one to take inequities quietly, he enjoyed testing the boundaries of where he was allowed to be and when. He loved telling stories of “breaking curfew”: enjoying Vancouver’s nightlife outside the bounds of Chinatown.

Cecil was a member of the Army Navy Air Force Legion Unit 280 (Chinatown), having served both in WWII and in 1941 with the Merchant Marines. The army judged his education and skills insufficient for promotion, yet he wore the uniform with honour and pride. He marched in every Remembrance Day parade, medals shining and shoes mirror bright. He loved sharing war stories with his friends.

A hard worker, Cecil took the blue-collar jobs he was able to get in canneries, mills, grocery stores and restaurants. He worked all over the province, from Bones Bay to Vancouver. He had exquisite taste: family associations invited him to select menus for multi-course banquets, balancing the colours, flavours, and textures.

From an early age, Cecil loved fishing – even a job at the cannery couldn’t dim his enthusiasm for fish. His happiest days were on the water, the cooler filled with beer and fried chicken. The BC Salmon Derby was an annual highlight, with Cecil twice taking home trophies.

Cecil died in 1989 and is buried at Ocean View Burial Park, Burnaby.

YEE Yen Non (also known as Harry Ningnoon YEE) was born in China on March 1, 1908. His father (YEE Yoke Zhong 余煜中) and his older brother Frank were already living in Canada when Harry arrived in May 1923, shortly before the Chinese Exclusion Act went into effect.

Harry was only 12 years old and the immigration official noted that the boy was 4’ 9” and had a scar over his left eye. After clearing immigration, Harry boarded a train to Calgary where he joined his brother and father who operated a Chinese laundry called Paramount Tailors. Harry attended James Short School (formerly Central Public School) but likely also helped out in the laundry business.

In July 1928, Harry travelled with his father back to China. There his family arranged for him to marry CHU Sze on October 2, 1928.

On March 13, 1930, Chu Sze gave birth to a baby girl whom they named YU Seng Hai 余雙囍. Although her name contained the Chinese character for “double happiness,” she tragically died at a young age. But by then, Harry was back in Alberta working. Harry saved enough money to return to China a second time, in October 1936. On this trip he fathered a son, YU Sek Kei 余鍚棋 (YEE Thick Kee in Taishanese) who was born on June 13, 1937. This child contracted polio at a young age.

Sometime after the birth of YU Sek Kei, Harry left for Guangzhou and started a business that resulted in him serving jail time. Fortunately, his brother-in-law had an influential position with the Kuomintang government and arranged for Harry's release. Interestingly, once back in Canada, Harry changed his Chinese name from 余迎愋 to 余煦和. No one knows why, but it may have been an attempt to give himself a new start given the problems he encountered in China.

Harry worked as a travelling salesman in Alberta and, at one time, established a business in St. Paul, Alberta called New Modern Tailors which was also a laundry. He lived in Alberta until April 1942, moving to Vancouver where he purchased a small business on Hastings Street called Windsor Tailors and started a new chapter of his life. He worked long hours at the shop and developed a broad and loyal customer base. He operated the store until 1980.

In 1947, Harry took a second wife, marrying Winnifred Lee (LEE Yuet Siew) in Canada. He and Winnie raised four children.

Harry was very active in the Chinese community with the Yee clan association (Yee Fung Toy Society) and many others. He held executive positions locally and at the national level.

In 1989, Harry finally returned to his ancestral village of Poon Tong (泮塘) in Toisan. It had been 51 years since he left China.

His son Gerry described the trip: “I was with him on that journey that was emotionally overwhelming for him and me. Seeing his first wife and many relatives, young and old, was pure joy. He was singing songs of his youth and savoured every moment of the familiarity of the language, scenery and atmosphere.”

YEE Wing Hong arrived in Canada in 1920 at eight years old. He made the journey with his grandmother, his father (Hee), and an uncle and two cousins. They had all been brought to Canada by Hong's grandfather and family patriarch, YEE Ching, who had been in Canada since 1913. Yee Ching hailed from DiHoi in the 台山 Toisan / Taishan district of 廣東 Guangdong province. He owned and operated a store and restaurant in Millet, Alberta at which the extended family members worked while they settled in and the children attended school.

Ching passed away in 1927 and his body was shipped back to China for burial.

In 1930, Hong and his father paid a long visit to China. Hong said he was mainly brushing up on his Chinese. However, while there, he married Wei Yei Chan. They had a son, Kai Tan Yee, in 1933.

Hong returned to Canada in 1934 without his wife and son but continued to support them by sending money back regularly. By 1947, Hong had married Dorothy Wagner; they went on to have five children.

Back in Millet, Hong and his father worked in the family’s Millet café for several years before selling it. They then built a new restaurant which, over the years, went through two fires, reconstruction and additions, with the last one being built and opened on December 22nd, 1947. The restaurant operated in different locations and under different names such as The Wellington, The Rainbow Grill, and The Skylark.

Finally, in September 1977, Hong retired and sold the restaurant to his nephew, Kai Fun Yee (Barney Quon Yee’s son). The Yee restaurants had been operating in Millet for over 80 continuous years and formed a vital part of Millet’s historical past. Sadly, a fire in September 1996 destroyed the building and it was never rebuilt. Thus ended the era of the Yee restaurants in Millet. Hong passed away shortly after, in November 1996.

Hong was a respected and beloved member of the community who knew everyone. The Rainbow Grill was the first stop in the morning for many townsfolk who needed a coffee and a long chat before work. In the evenings, the young people of Millet spent hours eating fries and gravy and drinking milkshakes.

Hong was always volunteering to help during community events. He helped start up the Lions Club in Millet and he was the first recipient of the Lifetime membership for the Millet Lions Club. He also received the Judge Brian Stephenson Award, which is one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon a Lions member in Canada.

Hong’s children have many fond memories of their father. They remember that:
– He worked long days in the restaurant. In the early years, it was open 16 hours a day, 363 days a year. We never took a vacation with our dad as he could not afford to close down for any length of time.
– Hong woke early, every morning, to peel potatoes to make fresh mashed potatoes for the lunch hour and French fries for the evening crowd.
– He would take his kids with him to Edmonton to get supplies and then head over to his cousin’s restaurant, The Purple Lantern, for a meal.
– Hong always made his children's birthdays a special day, preparing traditional Chinese food complete with bird’s nest soup.
– Hong hosted the occasional poker game with his buddies in a back booth of his restaurant. The games would start at closing time and go through to the next morning.

YEE Wai Ben (changed later in life from YEE Wai Bun) was born July 15, 1897 in China. He arrived in Canada as a 24-year-old merchant with exemption from paying the head tax.

Wai Ben was a laundry proprietor in Toronto who operated Oakwood Hand Laundry. He was described as quiet, empathetic, dutiful, self-respecting, hospitable, and generous; he enjoyed a good laugh. At day’s end, his quiet time included reading the Shing Wah Daily News.

He married CHEUNG Sui Hei and had three children: Lily Yee, William Yee, Jean Lai Yee.

Wai Ben prided himself on maintaining his property—making it a central gathering place for the neighbourhood children. He took pains to care for the extensive lawn on his corner lot so that his children and their friends could enjoy an accessible and safe place to play.

In winter, he piled snow against the backyard’s fence so the kids could build snow forts. On occasion he flooded the backyard to create a central ice rink. Since his family was the only Chinese family in a predominantly European neighbourhood, Wai Ben created a safe space for kids—one that also facilitated multiculturalism and integration.

Like many Chinese who had entered Canada as merchants with exemption from paying the head tax, Wai Ben lost this status with the new regulations of the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act. He was subject to the $500 fine on the spot—an enormous amount of money at the time. Despite that setback, he stayed in Canada. By 1953, when he applied for Canadian Citizenship, he was using the slightly anglicized name of Yee Wai Ben.

He passed away on December 15, 1974 in Toronto.

YEE Sing first arrived in 1908 at around the age of 20, with four other men from the same village of the Yee/Yue clan.

Most of his working life was spent in the restaurant business. In the 1930s and 40s, Yee Sing owned and operated the Dominion Café in Banff, Alberta. Besides being a popular eatery, the café was also known for bringing in fireworks to celebrate Victoria Day.

As columnist Bruce Beattie recalled in a 1985 article in the Banff Crag & Canyon newspaper:

“About May 22 every year Mr. [Yee] would let the secret out. He would unpack the crates and place packages of firecrackers close to the old National cash register at the front of the café. Then, smiling from ear to ear, he’d go out on the sidewalk just as the kids were getting out of school and set off a few impressive bangs. Within minutes his café would be swarming with customers.”

There were times in Yee Sing’s life when money was very tight: at one point he used an ironing board as a makeshift bed and was forced to cook watermelon rinds for food.

But Yee Sing saved enough to travel to and from China a few times. His first wife died in China, so he married another woman in China who was 22 years his junior. He would have three children, all born in China: two adopted sons and a daughter who was born in 1948 when Yee Sing was already 60 years old.

In his fifties, Yee Sing fell off a roof while doing repairs, sustaining serious injuries and no longer able to work. He decided to return to China and live out his retirement years there. He gifted the Dominion Café to his adopted son, Fred Wing.

However, not long after Yee Sing’s arrival in China, the Communist party took control of the country.

In 1951, Yee Sing thought it best to return to Canada although this time he would arrange to bring over his wife and young daughter. However, his daughter, Grace, had been registered as a boy and correcting that became complicated and delayed her travel to Canada. It was only with the assistance of lawyer Douglas Jung that the young child eventually made it over to Canada a couple of years later (1953).

He also helped bring over to Canada another son, Wing Foo, who was adopted by his second wife.

Yee Sing died August 12, 1964 at the age of 76.

YEE Wing Quon (known also in Canada as Barney Yee) was born in China in September 1913.

At age 5, his grandfather, Ching Yee brought Quon to Canada and settled in the town of Millet, Alberta. Quon's father, Moon-Sim Yee owned and operated Ching’s Café until it burned down. After the fire, the Yee family moved across the street and opened the Wellington Café.

Running restaurants ran in the Yee family through successive generations. As an adult, Quon moved to Edmonton to manage his brother’s restaurant called the Purple Lantern, followed by a brief stint managing the Pagoda Nightclub in Devon, located just outside of Edmonton. But most of his working life was spent running the Purple Lantern.

Quon was 25 years old when his father decided to send him back to China to find a wife. Because he had come to Canada so young, he knew little about his own Chinese culture. He didn’t know how to speak, read or write Chinese. He had no idea how to wear traditional Chinese clothing, especially the way to wear traditional pants. Lastly, Quon didn’t know how to eat raw sugar cane like the locals in [台山 Toisan / Taishan]. Because of these things, he was teased incessantly by friends and family in his village.

Over time, he learned the Chinese ways and married Yuet-Mee Tam from a nearby village. They had two children: Kai-Fun and Mel-Kwoon.

Due to WWII, Quon left the village to serve in the British Military Mission shortly after their first son was born. He would not see his family for another six years, until after the war when they reunited in Hong Kong in 1946.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was still in effect in Canada, so Quon was not able to bring his family overseas until 1961.

Quon passed away in November of 1976.