Sue Kim Gee

Beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Great-grandmother Sue Gee passed away on June 23, 2024. She was 90 at the time of her passing. Sue was born in the city of Hoiping, China, and lived there with her mother, Fung Mae Mah, and two siblings, Amy Chu and Alan Chu. Her father, John Gee, had immigrated earlier to Houston, Texas. In 1951, Sue boarded a ship to San Francisco, spending a month at an immigration building upon arrival before staying with a cousin in San Francisco. After a few weeks, Sue took a train and joined her father in Houston, where he co-owned a grocery store. 

When her good friend from China, May Yee, immigrated to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sue moved in with her. She and May attended Junior High school together, and Sue worked at May's family's diner. It was there that Henry & Eudora Gee brought Dick Gee, who was in the US Army at the time, into the diner to meet her. It appears that he was smitten with her, because after leaving the Army, Dick and Sue started dating while Dick attended the University of New Mexico. 

When Dick moved to Los Angeles for his first job out of college (as a pharmacist at St. Joseph's Hospital), Sue followed him, getting a job as a bank teller. Dick ended up proposing to her and they were married in 1958. They had their son, Ron, in 1959, and moved to Long Beach, California, soon after. Their daughter, Julie, was born in 1961, and daughter, Janice, in 1965. They were able to bring Sue's mom, Fung Mae Mah, over from Hong Kong to live with the family and help raise the children.

Throughout the years, Sue was the consummate mother and homemaker. She loved throwing parties, especially birthday parties for her kids, and always made her cakes from scratch. She even came up with her own special recipe for the butter cream frosting. Her husband, Dick, taught her how to play tennis, and she became totally addicted to the sport, sometimes playing every day of the week and accumulating many trophies through the tournaments that she competed in. In addition to tennis, Sue enjoyed creating floral arrangements, playing mahjong, playing the slot machines in Las Vegas, tending to her garden, and volunteering for the Cancer Support Foundation Auxiliary at Los Alamitos Medical Center.

As her children grew, married, and had their own children, Sue doted on her grandchildren with the same love and caring. Family get-togethers were always a joyous occasion for her, and she would teach her grandkids tennis as soon as they got big enough to hold a tennis racket.

Sue is survived by her son Ron Gee (Iris), daughter Julie Gong (Ken), and daughter Janice Low (Mike); grandchildren Stephanie Gee, Morgan Gee, Daniel Gong (Diana), Andrew Gong, Christina Gong-Martel (David), Jennifer Gong, Kevin Low, and Ryan Low; and great-granddaughter Athena Gong.

Sue is predeceased by her husband, Dick Gee; her mother, Fung Mae Mah; father John Gee; sister Amy Chu; and brother Alan Chu.

A private family service will be held on July 5, 2024.