After a short but courageous battle with stage 4 metastatic cancer, David passed away peacefully in hospice surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Rosamy (Yeung) Lo, his son, Oscar Lo (Amy Kim), his daughter, Jessica (Lo) Gilmore (Brad Gilmore), and his beloved young grandchildren, Kayla and Dean Gilmore. He was grateful for his extended family and close friends who supported him during this difficult time.
David was born on December 6th, 1945 in Hong Kong to Anita Maria Ribeiro and Wai Hee Lo. He worked for Cathay Pacific as a flight purser between 1967 – 1970 where he acquired a love for planes and travelling. It was on a Cathay flight where he met the love of his life, Rosamy. They settled in Vancouver in 1971 and were married in 1975. During this time he pursued his Certified General Accounting Degree while working as a security guard and began his own accounting firm soon after.
In addition to his career he was a sports fanatic and enjoyed watching a variety of teams, including the BC Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps, and especially the Vancouver Canucks of which he was a season’s ticket holder since the early 1970’s. His passion for hockey began while watching the iconic Canada vs. Russia Summit Series in 1972 and once his children were born he was keen to share his passion for the game with them, indoctrinating them from a very young age. He made it his life’s work to bring his children to all their early morning and late evening hockey, figure skating, swimming, and piano lessons where he would often sit dutifully while sleep-reading his newspaper.
On top of being a responsible and loving family man, running a successful business from home, and watching every sports event possible, David also managed to squeeze in a number of volunteer duties, including taking on the position of treasurer for the Connaught Figure Skating Club (his daughter’s skating club) for over a decade, and helped found and run the CX Club North America (Cathay Pacific Alumni Club) of which he was president for several years. Through the years of dedicated volunteer work, he was awarded three City of Richmond Volunteer and Contribution to the Community awards in 2003, 2012 and 2016.
David was loving, generous, thoughtful, humble, intelligent and hard working. He always put his family first, and would go out of his way to do whatever you needed. His kindness resulted in many lifelong friends and so much love from his family, immediate and extended. In his last few years, his focus shifted to his grandchildren whom he so intensely loved. He would always happen to, “be in the neighbourhood” (even though he lived 45 minutes away) and drop in to cuddle and to play with them. His favourite thing to do was to rock and sing his grandbabies to sleep, stealing all the cuddles he could manage.
My father lived an amazing life. His early years were difficult, having lost his own father at the young age of two, but the challenges he faced growing up made him stronger and more resilient. In his last days, he told my mother that despite his illness, “it was worth it” – he was able to love and be loved, watched his children grow and succeed, and had quality time with his grandchildren. While it didn’t seem long enough for all of us, his young granddaughter so wisely reminded us, “Don’t cry mommy, everyone has to die one day, but we keep them in our hearts forever.” Forever in our hearts, until we meet again.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested a donation to the Richmond Salvation Army Rotary Hospice where David was shown extreme kindness, incredible respect and exceptional dignity in his last week of life. https://www.gofundme.com/in-memory-of-david-lo
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