Person

Chan, Lou

• 陳錫扶

• Chan, Tom Lou

1899-1994

CHAN Lou experienced an extra-long journey when he decided to leave his village in 台山 Toisan / Taishan to travel halfway around the world to find work in Newfoundland. He was his family's only son, with seven sisters. Like many in China at the time, the family was poor and struggled to survive.

In addition, he had his own family to support. He was married to GEE Toi Young, with whom he had two children: Terry Yuon Chan and Julie Pui Kam Lee.

He arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1921 at the age of 22, paying the $300 head tax. Family accounts say he borrowed the money from his brother-in-law and repaid every cent. He would be known as Tom in this new country.

But when Tom tried to find a job, but no one would hire him. He became acquainted with some gamblers in restaurants, serving them and running errands to earn some tips. However, he never gambled himself.

He also worked at a laundry business. Initially, he offered his services for free in order to prove he was dependable and hard-working. He was hired eventually, earning three to five dollars per week. To help drum up business, Tom went from hotel to hotel, soliciting for clothes that needed laundering. He would haul the clothes back to the laundry in a bag.

Tom was disciplined. He regularly sent money back to his family in China and still found ways to save, including enough to open his own convenience store. Running the store took incredibly long hours: Tom barely slept as he wanted to stay up as late as possible so his store would be open to customers.

He was also resourceful. The family recalls that “When [kids] did not have enough money to buy an entire package [of candy], he would disassemble the packets so they could purchase the pieces they could afford. He also learned to make pies and sold them at the store.”

His great grandson shared, “My mother tells me about his famous pies -- apple, raisin, lemon and coconut -- and any kind of flavoured fruit pie, he could make. The crust was homemade with lard and plenty of kneading.”

Later, Tom opened the Dragon Restaurant, which is where he made his fortune. His son, Terry, carried on the business.

Around 1937, Tom returned to China to purchase land and have a house built for his family. However, this suddenly changed his family’s status to that of landowners, making them targets for persecution by the Communist party. Horrifying slogans were shouted at them and their home was searched.

In 1964, Tom’s wife, Toi Young GEE, joined him in Canada after decades of separation.

Tom passed away June 13, 1994.

Description supplied by collector/curator