Person

Dere, Mee Gim

• Woon, Daisy

1912-2001

Daisy WOON, born DERE Mee Gim, was born in China in [開平 Hoiping / Kaiping] county in 1912, to father DAR Woon, later known as David, and mother GUN Shee. Her father had first migrated to Canada in 1900, where he worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway and then as a tailor, saving up money to support his wife and daughter.

In 1921, when Daisy was 9 years old, her father brought her and her mother to join him in Canada. The family settled in Calgary, where Daisy’s father ran a tailoring shop.

Daisy married Frank Chin FOON in 1930, and moved with him to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The couple had one daughter together. In Moose Jaw, they owned and operated the Ace Hotel, while Daisy ran a dressmaking shop—Paragon Dressmaking—in the hotel’s storefront. Her clients included the ground crew of the aerobatic Snowbirds flight squadron, and the MJ Chinese bowling team.

Daisy was one of the first bilingual women in Moose Jaw, as she spoke both English and Chinese fluently. Consequently, Daisy was a key connection for Chinese immigrants who came to settle in the region. She and her husband Frank often gave newly arrived Chinese immigrants free room and board at the Ace Hotel until they could settle more permanently.

Daisy passed away in Moose Jaw in 2001, at the age of 89.

Gun Shee (wife of Dere Woon) ([1888]-1966)

Dar, Woon (1885-1972)

Description supplied by collector/curator