Person

Lim, Wilbert Wong

• Lim, Wong

1919-1998

LIM Wong was born on January 15, 1919, in Cumberland’s Chinatown, where he was raised with eight other siblings born to his mother, Lim Chin Shee, and his father, Lim Lip Pun. His given name was Wong as listed on his birth certificate. His chosen English name was Wilbert. He had an older brother, Ki Shun (aka Kelly), who was adopted by Lip Lip Pun and his first wife. His Canadian siblings were Chon (aka Jack, b. 1910), Yee (aka Una, b. 1912), Hing (aka Harold, b. 1914), Ho (aka Margaret, b. 1915), Kwai (aka Dorothy, b. 1917), Hung (aka Helen, b. 1920), Que (aka Elsie, b. 1922), and Yuen (aka Lorna, b. 1923).

Wilbert’s father paid the $50 head tax upon arrival in Victoria in 1890 as a laundryman from San Francisco. By 1910, Lim Lip Pun was a merchant, and had a wife, Lim Chin Shee, and son, Ki Shun, in Canada. Lim Lip Pun operated the firm of Yee Yuen in Cumberland’s Chinatown.

Wilbert’s father died in Chinatown on April 27, 1924. Four years later, the family returned to their ancestral village, sailing on August 25, 1928 for Lum Ok Dei, Guanghai Township, 台山 Toisan / Taishan county, 廣東 Guangdong province, China.

Wilbert completed the equivalent of high school there, then taught kindergarten with his sister, Helen, in Lum Ok Dei village.

He returned to Vancouver in 1937 and worked at The Only Sea Foods (20 East Hastings Street) and the Sylvia Hotel.

During the war, he worked at the Ocean Falls pulp mill. By the late 1940s, Wilbert, his brother Harold, his brother-in-law Norman Young, and a few silent partners, owned and operated the WK Gardens (127 East Pender St), which was known for its dining and dancing to its non-Chinese clientele; however, to the Chinese community, it was the place to host and attend banquets to celebrate life events. The rich and famous also frequented the WK. He remained at the WK until it was sold in 1969.

Another iteration of WK Gardens eventually opened at 173 East Pender St (ca. 1976); besides banquets, it was known for serving a wide variety of dim sum items. In between the two WKs, Wilbert operated Tai Pan Restaurant (3005 Granville St, early 1970s), then worked for Faye and Dean Leung at Top of the Mandarin (611 Main St, mid-1970s). As a known entity among the Chinatown restaurants, he was often called “Boss.”

Though he regularly worked the front end of the restaurant, he knew how to prepare everything that was offered in the restaurants he operated. He understood the art of Chinese dining and was an artist in his own right (calligraphy, three-dimensional relief art, bonsai).

On February 27, 1952, Wilbert married Lillian Fong Yee Chan. They had two daughters, Wil (Wilberta) Marilyn and Imogene Letitia. Their first home was in Vancouver at 2586 East 4th Avenue, then in Burnaby at 4608 Brentlawn Drive.

After separating from Lillian, Wilbert returned to Vancouver to live at the Harry Lin Chin Golden Age Court until his death. Close to Chinatown, he was a regular at New Town Bakery where he met with his peers every morning to reminisce of the past.

Wilbert was a member of the Lim Sai Hor (Kow Mock) Association (531 Carrall St), a life member of the Chinese Cultural Centre (555 Columbia St), as well as a founding member of the Guang Hai Society.

Wilbert died on November 4, 1998, at St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC, from complications of pneumonia.

Description supplied by collector/curator