Yolande was born in 1932, the second child of a large family of ten children. She was born in Canton, China, where she lived for the first years of her life, and she went to school in Canton and Hong Kong. Her father established a flourishing trading post in what was then Calcutta, India where after the war the family reunited and settled.
In 1956, she married Robert Chiu (Bob) and started a family. Her son Gilbert was born in 1957, and Mark followed in 1959. Their lives were surrounded by the love of a huge extended family, parents, brothers and sisters, and their spouses and children.
In February 1970, Yolande, Bob, Gilbert and Mark moved to Vancouver, Canada where they eventually settled into their home in Burnaby in 1976.
She became a Christian around 2010 and was a member of the Grace Community Baptist Church, where she had many friends in the congregation and greatly enjoyed the fellowship she found there. Her faith was a very important part of her life during her later years and brought her much peace and comfort.
In retirement, she enjoyed reading, crochet, cooking and baking but her favourite hobby was her garden. She had an amazing green thumb and after years of tending to the soil, her garden still produces bountiful roses, tomatoes, figs, kiwis and apples. She generously shared her harvest every year with her friends and family.
She is survived by her loving son Mark and their loyal family dog, Koji. She was the cherished mother to her oldest son Gilbert and loving wife to Robert both of whom preceded her in passing. She is now reunited with them both. Her warm smile and her kind and generous heart will be missed immensely by all that knew and loved her. She will be forever missed.
In Lieu of Flowers, please consider donating to the BC Cancer Foundation.
https://donate.bccancerfoundation.com/goto/Yolande_Chiu
