Person

Wah Chong, Jennie

• Mrs. Goon Ling Dang
• Goon, Jennie
• Jennie Ling Dang

1872-1921

Born Jennie Wah Chong in 1872 in Portland, Oregon, the family moved to Canada in 1875. Her father established Wah Chong Laundry in Vancouver before the city came into being in 1886. A well-known portrait of the family in front of the business (with Jennie on the far left holding a parasol) is in the photograph collection of the City of Vancouver Archives, included to help fill gaps in the visual record of the city.

Jennie was the first Chinese student to attend public school in early Vancouver. She was enrolled in the Hastings Sawmill School. Years later, another student who attended the school at the same time described Jennie as being “the daintiest little thing; such dainty feet.”

Jennie married well-known, local businessman GOON Ling Dang who owned a store in Chinatown called Jun Kee Co. They were an active couple in the Chinatown community: Goon was VP of the Chinese Empire Reform Association, while Jennie was a member of the Association’s Ladies group. The couple would have three children: a son named Tyson (Hung Get, b. 1896) who would work for The Chinese Times newspaper; another son (Hung Guen, b. 1898) who died within three months; and a daughter named Pearl (b. 1910).

Jennie died in 1921 at age 49 with gastric heart failure being a factor. At the time, she was living outside of Chinatown at 1778 East 7th Avenue. She was laid to rest in Mountain View Cemetery.

Goon Ling Dang remarried a year later, in 1922. By then he was 63 years old. 

Wong Shee (wife of Goon Ling Dang) (1891-1977)

Goon, Pearl (1910-1999)

Description supplied by collector/curator