Person

Joe Shee (wife of Chu Chan Wah)

• 周氏
• 徐周氏

• Chu Joe Shee
• Mrs. Chu Chan Wah

1877-1963

Joe Shee 周⽒ was born in China in Nam Chun village in Panyu 番禺, in the historic Sam Yup district of 廣東 Guangdong province. Her given name has been lost in time: Joe Shee means “of the Joe clan.” She likely married merchant CHU Chan Wah (1878-1948) in Panyu at an unknown date. She stood 4’10” and had pierced ears. When she was about five years old, her parents began preparing her for a desirable marriage by calling a footbinder. She had the ultimate in feminine refinement and desirability: tiny feet.

Joe Shee was 37 when she stepped aboard the S.S. Awa Maru in Hong Kong with two of her husband’s relatives, ready to emigrate to Canada. The trip in steerage lasted 26 days, stopping in at Kobe and Yokohama before arriving at Victoria. The date was July 28, 1914 and WWI had just begun. She spent six days in the Victoria Chinese immigration shed while her papers were processed. Joe Shee and the boys were exempt from paying the head tax due to Chu’s status as a merchant.

Joe Shee and Chu Chan Wah had two daughters – Iva Hon Chu (1915-1933) and Iva Gaun Chu (1918-1942) – and one son, Harold Dit Young Chu (1916-1994). The family lived and worked at several addresses in Chinatown with their dry goods and tobacco business, the Wing Wah Company. They moved from 41 East Pender Street to 504 Main Street (1926-35), then across the street to No. 509 (1936-38), then to No. 506 (from 1936).

Of the three children, only Harold lived to have a family. He married Leila Soo Hing Young in 1935 and the couple bought their home on East 6th Avenue a few years later. After Chu died in 1948, Joe Shee moved in. She was 71. Leila took care of her mother-in-law for 15 years, often carrying her food and drink up the stairs.

Joe Shee died in 1963 age 86. Chu Chan Wah and Joe Shee are buried together at Ocean View Burial Park in Burnaby.

Chu, Chan Wah (1878-1948)

Description supplied by the collector/curator