Julia Y. P. Chinn

My mother was a dedicated wife, a loving mother, a helpful neighbor and a faithful Christian. She was well liked by coworkers, friends and neighbors.

Julia Yuek-Ping Kong was born in Taishan, Guangdong, China on Decemeber 5, 1928 and passed away peacefully on July 16, 2014. She was born to Hoi-Wong Kong and Chau-Sim Chan, the 2nd child of 4 and their only daughter. From an early age, she was very disciplined, focused, and a hard worker. After high school, she studied to be a nurse graduating from Nethersole General Hospital in Hong Kong. Afterward, she worked in various Hong Kong hospitals and in the Doctor's Office of the Canadian Immigration Office.

In 1959 she married Larry Kwok-Cheung Chinn and emigrated to Los Angeles. She worked at Good Samaritan Hospital and as a private duty nurse. She joined the Chinese Congregational Church of Los Angeles where she was to be a faithful member for the rest of her life. Though she left nursing after the arrival of her son, me, she continued to use her training to care for her husband Larry after he suffered his first stroke. In 1972, using money she received in an inheritance, she purchased an apartment building. Property management and real estate became my mother's 2nd career and great obsession for the rest of her life.

In 1975, my father, Larry, suffered a second stroke which proved fatal. In the years that followed she became a teacher's aide at the local elementary school and sewed clothes in order to provide for her family. When I say family, at that time this meant her elderly mother-in-law and me. And when her mother-in-law, my grandmother, got sick she again used her nurse's training to care for grandma until she could not physically do so. After grandma was moved to a nursing home, my mother visited grandma every single day until she passed. I remember going with my mom after school every day and staying until closing time. A bit later, her own mother got ill and moved in with us. Again she used her nurse's training to care her own mother until she could no longer do so. And again, when her mother was moved to a nursing home, my mother was there every single day until grandma passed.

In later years, after the apartment business became more stable, she throughly enjoyed travelling to see relatives and to see the world with her best friends from nursing school, Au Wai-Jong and Yuen Wai-Kun. She loved gardening and her flowers. She tried her hand at piano but her counting of waltz time—1, 2, 3, rest, 1, 2, 3, rest—indicated that she was not to have a 3rd career in music. She went out daily for 45 minute walk in the morning and another 45 minute walk at dusk. She went out to lunch with her friend Magoo and our neighbors Mrs. Lim and Mrs. Quon when available. She had dim sum with church friends every other Sunday.

Through all of this she tried to help those less fortunate or less able than herself. She gave prodigiously to charity. To family, neighbors and friends, she gave advice on how to improve their own station in life. She often helped by translating english documents into chinese or by directly writing letters on
their behalf in english. She dispensed medical and phramacological advice. She gave out scholarships to help further education and she used her own apartment buildings to help relatives new to the country gain a toehold from which to launch their own American stories.

In the last few years many people, including myself, encouraged her to sell her apartments and enjoy life more. She would not hear of that. She argued that her apartments were her legacy and this legacy was for her family. When I say family, by this time this meant me. Her story at this point is intertwined with my own. She turned down my help with matters even when it was clear that her mind was losing it's edge. In these later years, I learned to recruit relatives and family friends to help me explain things to her with varying degrees of success. My mother was a very very very stuborn lady.

In the end, after all the confusion, anxiety and dementia melted away, I know that she found peace. She spoke about seeing her friend Magoo who had passed away last year. She spoke about going to get dim sum with her own mom and dad. She said my dad had bought her a new house and she asked Mrs. Wong, her caretaker, for a pen and paper on which to write the address.

I want to acknowledge Uncle Edward, Aunt Judy, Cousin Pat, Auntie Anna and Cousin Lily for their advice and encouragement. When mom had her first and second ER visits back in September, our family friend Ngoh Gu immediately grasped the serverity of her condition and was there for us. Later, when mom came home and needed a caretaker, Mrs. Wong, did that job 24 hours a day 6 days a week and eventually 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I was able to carry out my mother's healthcare wishes only because Mrs. Wong was there to do all the heavy lifting.

I mentioned earlier that I had learned to recruit relatives and family friends to help explain things to mom. This trend continued as mom got sicker. For me, the one great and only positive thing about my mom's terrible illness was that I was able to get much closer to my relatives and to her old friends. I know everyone of you in this room loved my mother and helped me more than you know. I love you all and I want to thank you all.