Mrs. Yuk Lin Lotus Lau Chan

Mrs. Yuk Lin "Lotus" Lau Chan, born in Hong Kong on October 28, 1934 to Father Lau On and Mother Lau Chan Kwan, is the second daughter of the Lau's Family. Her ancestors were originated from Po On District of Canton Province of China. She has one older sister (Yuk Tai), one younger sister (Yuk Chun) and one younger brother (Yuk San). Her family is also the descendent of the Hakka tribe which she is very proud of. In her early days, the family lived in a village where farming was essential and was the primary occupation for most villagers. I remembered Grandmother telling me that each day, she would follow her mother to the mountain-top to gather, harvest and carry loads of grass and other herbs back home on her young shoulders. Imagine a young girl carrying tons of heavy wet grass everyday, this hard laborous work left Grandma a hump on the shoulder that would never go away. Grandma's family was poor, but they never gave up, they were proud and they continued to work painstakingly to earn a living. Grandma was a very talented individual, and was a great student in school. Her career highlight included the training and practice to become a nurse at St. John's Ambulance. However, because of the objections from her parents, she did not pursue this path, but continued to help her family and take care of her siblings at home. However, because of her medical background, she was able to use these knowledge to help her family and friends. Grandma also learned and mastered the use of many ancient herbal remedies taught by her mother and these remedies came to be of very valuable uses when treating mild ailments. Grandma was a very brave and courageous individual. During the Second World War at a very young age, she was already trying to protect her parents and siblings from the enemies when Hong Kong was taken over by the Japanese from 1942 to 1945, and the act even had the Japanese soldiers writing the Chinese character "Bravery" on Grandmother's back to honor her.

When she was 19, Grandma met Grandpa (Kwong Chuk) and very soon after they got married in 1953. Back then Grandpa's parents had both passed on, leaving Grandpa and two younger brothers. After marriage, Grandma took over the role of the Mother of the household to take care of the brothers. They lived in the Hakka village named Sam Tung Uk Village of the Chan's Ancestry in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. Grandma was a very hardworking housewife, and she had her own believes, ethics and standards. She would never do any harms in any ways, and she would only do good to others, even if it meant to sacrifice herself. She is so kind-hearted, that she would loan rice and money to the poorer even though she did not have enough for herself and her family. She is always thankful for what she had and lived with what she had. As a sister-in-law, Grandma took very good care of her two younger brothers-in-laws, and refused to give up on them even though one had suffered from seizures and the other with severe case of pinworm. She carried one of the brothers on her back and took him all the way to Kowloon (long way away from the village) to see the specialist in order to treat him, despite on living on a tight budget. Therefore, the two brothers-in-law had lots of respect towards Grandma. Grandmother is a very well-mannered lady, and she treated her parents very well. She loved to go and have dim-sum and tea with her parents and took care of them endlessly.

As a wife, she is wonderful, caring and warm. Grandpa describes Grandma to be the best wife to be found in the village. After marriage, Grandmother had taken great care of Grandfather as he earned a living to take care of the whole family. Grandmother believed religiously that after being married to the man of her life, she would always be faithful to him. She always strived to ensure her husband's well-being, as she took good care of Grandfather after his gall-bladder removal surgery, his weight-loss training in the hospital, his diagnosis of high blood pressure and diabetes, and of all other minor ailments and sickness regardless of day and night. The following year after marriage, Grandma and Grandpa gave birth to my father, their eldest son, Wai Man. Then the household grew larger and larger. Grandma raised five beautiful children (Wai Man, Wai Chun, Wai Ping, Wai Hing and Wai Mei) and had taught them to be kind, generous and loving. Grandma's love is overflowing for her children, as she worked days and nights in order to take care of each of them, never give more attention to one than to the others. She worked painstakingly for her family, even at the worst times, when she almost lost her eyesight one time; when her liver was starting to shut down on her because of the neverending chores and immense stress; when she was pregnant with her fifth child but because of carrying heavy loads, caused her to have a miscarriage; when she had to go into the hospital to have a surgery to remove a benign breast tumor in 1957...Grandma had suffered a lot when she was young, but she always told me to never give up and she always looked on the positives. Chapters after chapters of her life, Grandma lives a glorious life, and she will always be remembered as the Greatest Mom ever to her children.

Grandmother continued to spread her love onto her Grandchildren when we were born. I remembered that Cousin Ho Yin, I, and Cousin Ka Ho were all born in 1983, and Grandmother had been taking care of us ever since the first day. She loved us with all her heart and she treated us like jewels and gems. She always gave us the best that she can offer and she will not be hesitant to help us if we were in trouble. She had taught us lots of valuable knowledge on how to become a successful and righteous person when we get older. We are forever in debt to her kindness and love. I can always say without any hesitation that I love her so much, I love her forever. Grandmother got 7 grandchildren (Ho Yin, Richard Chung Yin, Ethan Ka Ho, Thomas, Cash Ho Yeung, Johnny, and Bobby Chung Leung) and she is always our treasure in life.

In 1991, Grandfather, Grandmother and Auntie Amey (Wai Mei) decided to immigrate to Vancouver, Canada to stay with Auntie Alice (Wai Hing) and Uncle Simon. Since then, I had less interactions with Grandmother, but she is always in our minds. Grandmother loves Vancouver because she feels that the place gives her lots of energy, the air is clean and the people are friendly. There she decided that Vancouver would be her second home. In 1994, my family of 4 also decided to immigrate to Vancouver, and from then on we have been living together ever since. Throughout the years, we had lots of fun together, and she watched all of us growing older and all of us graduated from universities with honor.

Grandmother had been healthy all her life, with the only minor ailment being high blood pressure, but was always very well controlled with medications. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011. With surgery to remove the tumor, she recovered quite well, and we thought that she will be well from now forward. But towards the end of the year, she started to complain about a severe pain in her hip area. Bad news had fallen upon us from the X-ray exam and the hospital visit that Grandmother's cancer was spread to her bones and very soon acutely metastasized to her lymph and all over her body. She was brave and battled beautifully with the cancer but unfortunately she passed away in Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster on January 16, 2012 at the age of 77. She left us peacefully and without pain. We were sadden by her departure but we know that she will live on in the heaven upon us, watching over us and protect us. Grandmother, you are truly a wonderful and beautiful person with kind heart. You will always be remembered and you will forever be missed by all of us.

Chung Yin (Richard) Chan

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It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Yuk Lin Chan, a beloved wife, mother of 5 and grandmother of 7. She was born in Hong Kong in 1934, and passed away peacefully in New Westminster, BC on January 16, 2012 at the age of 77. She is dearly survived by her husband, Kwong Chuk Chan, two sons, three daughters, six grandsons and a granddaughter. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends.

Funeral Service will be held Friday, January 27, 2012 at 9:30 am at Forest Lawn Funeral Home. Interment to follow in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the section of 'Cypress Garden'.