Ivan Wai Ngai Wong

We are saddened to announce the passing of our father, Ivan Wai Ngai Wong. Our dad died in hospital on Saturday, June 21, 2025, after a short illness. He went to be with our mom on what would have been her 78th birthday.

Ivan was predeceased by our mother, Lisa Tak Bing Wong, and is survived by his daughters, Barbara (David), Betty and Brenda (Shane) and grandchildren, Thomas, Faye, Gabriel, Colton and Madison. He will be missed by family and friends from all corners of the world, including loved ones in Hong Kong, China, Australia, Europe, United States and here in Canada.

Ivan was born on November 25, 1937, in the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province in China. He studied engineering and moved to Hong Kong where he found a job in a textile factory. He met our mother through a mutual friend, and they married shortly afterwards. He told the story of how his boss told him he should spend his savings on a flat in Hong Kong, but our mother wanted to travel, so they went to Japan for their honeymoon instead. They had three daughters, each two years apart, and in the early 1970s, they continued their adventures by moving the family to Digby NS.

Ivan became a restauranteur and worked in the kitchen and behind the scenes, running two (and sometimes three) different restaurants. He and Lisa worked long hours and benefited greatly from the support of his mother-in-law, our maternal grandmother, Pui Har Wong, who lived with us when we were young children. His friends and coworkers have described him as an honest, fair-minded, hardworking, kind and generous person who truly cared about the people around him.

Our dad loved to cook, take photos and work in the garden, passions he passed along to each of three of us. He valued education as the foundation of a good life, and he instilled in us a sense of curiosity and the drive to learn and grow. He appreciated the simple things in life and always found a way to be content with what was in front of him. In the end, he showed us what it meant to accept life’s challenges with courage and grace. We are so blessed to have had a strong and loving father in our lives, and we will miss him dearly.

A service will be held 11am on Thursday, June 26, 2025 at Jayne's Funeral Home, Digby with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, our family requests that a donation be made to the Digby & Area Health Service Charitable Foundation in recognition of the tremendous care that the staff at Digby General Hospital provided to both our father and our mother.