Winifred Woon Yee (So) Chui

Social worker, mother, grandmother, sister, niece, auntie, and loyal friend, Winnie lived with remarkable independence, humility, and care for others.

She will be terribly missed by her daughters, Michelle, Maureen Mo-Ling and Melissa; sons-in-law Dave Gardiner, David Cuesta, and Mike Low; her beloved granddaughters, Anna, Alice, Phoenix, Maya, and Misha; her large extended So family; and the many wonderful friends she gathered and stayed close with throughout her life.

Born So Woon Yee in Hong Kong in 1941, Winnie was one of 14 children in a large family whose roots were in Sun Wui, Guangdong. She attended Maryknoll Sisters’ School and, at a time when relatively few young Hong Kong women had the opportunity to pursue higher education abroad, left home in 1961 to attend Chestnut Hill College near Philadelphia. She later continued her studies at the University of British Columbia, earning a Masters of Social Work, and making Canada her home.

At UBC, Winnie met Wai Fat Chui. They eventually settled in Edmonton, where they raised three daughters. Winnie was a full-time working mom before anyone talked much about what it took to be one. She was constantly in motion - running the household, driving to dance classes, sports and activities, sewing costumes, hosting, taking us to Hong Kong in the summers, and ski trips, camping, and road trips to Vancouver and California to see friends and family.

She was also always banging about, cooking in the kitchen. From classic Cantonese dishes to Sunday roasts, Winnie fed people generously and often. Countless Sundays, birthdays, and holidays found her single-handedly preparing feasts for family and friends, something she continued into the last year of her life. Meals around her table was one of the ways she brought people together.

Winnie’s professional life as a social worker was equally important to her. In Edmonton, she worked with children with autism and Down syndrome at Glenrose Hospital and Elves Memorial; and then spent more than 15 years as a social worker at the University of Alberta Hospital. During the emerging AIDS crisis of the 1980s, she worked in HIV/AIDS care, supporting patients living with a disease that was still poorly understood and stigmatized. She was well-regarded as a kind, empathetic, and pragmatic social worker, known for seeing what people needed, what was realistic, and acting with urgency to find ways to move forward.

In 1989, Winnie returned to Vancouver and began a new chapter, with Melissa still in high school, Michelle in Eastern Canada, and Maureen travelling abroad. She went on to work for more than a decade at St. Paul’s Hospital, primarily in Geriatrics, helping patients and their families plan for care and support moving forward. As the only Cantonese-speaking social worker for a time, she was especially valued, helping Chinese immigrant families to understand and navigate the healthcare system.

Retirement after 2001 gave Winnie more time with friends and family, keeping busy with activities like line dancing, jogging and golf, and doing a lot more travelling. She visited many destinations across the globe, enjoying group tours, safaris, cultural experiences, walking and eating well, travelling with various groups of friends and with her siblings. She was always up for new experiences, spirited and good fun to be with, and had a way of connecting with people wherever she went.

At home in Vancouver, her life was also full. For the last 10 years or more, she thrived with a regular weekly rhythm of golf and mahjong, getting her steps in on long walks, and always sharing meals with friends. She remained active, healthy, young-at-heart and very independent; sometimes impatient, always direct, and rarely still for very long (except when playing iPad, watching British crime dramas and hockey games).

Winnie touched lives across generations and around the world. She was bright and funny, generous and practical, direct and accepting. She had the rare ability to make friendships and sustain them across decades and continents.

Her generosity, independence, wry sense of humor and natural charm will remain in our hearts and minds, and live on through her daughters and granddaughters.

Winnie was loved and cherished by so many of us. May she rest in peace and be remembered with great fondness.

Celebration of Life will take place Tuesday, August 4th

Ocean View Funeral Home and Burial Park

1:00–1:30 PM - Visitation and Viewing

1:30–2:30 PM - Honoring Winnie’s Life

After 2:45 PM - Burial

5:00 PM - Dinner at Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant

In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make a donation in Mom’s memory to St. Paul’s Hospital Social Work fund https://give.helpstpauls.com/page/WinnieChui - Give in Memory of Winnie Chui

For family and friends who are unable to travel, the Celebration of Life service will be online. https://funeraweb.tv/diffusions/126197 (password: 364401012715)