Mr. Donald Kok Tuan Tee

Don was born on August 27, 1940 in the town of Pekan Jabi in Segamat, Johor state of Malaysia. He was the fourth child and second eldest son in a farming family of seven children.

As a child, Don was the only one in his family to learn English from hanging around British soldiers and Gurkhas at the nearby military base after the Japanese occupation, resulting in his determination to attend English school. This led to his career as a teacher, where he soon met Mary at the girls school they taught at in Muar. He married Mary Siew Lan Low in 1963 and they have two children - Karen and Andre. While they had a comfortable life in Malaysia, they wanted a better life for their family and migrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1970.

Like many immigrants from lower-income countries, the first few years in Canada were marked by struggle and hard work. Don substitute taught during the day, attended Simon Fraser University at night, and worked graveyard shifts at the mill on weekends. Mary also substituted while working on her bachelor’s degree, and both raised the children. By 1974, they were able to buy their first house.

Throughout his work years, Don was always busy and believed in having other work to fall back on, just in case. While he taught full time at elementary school, he completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education. He also continued the art (and business) of taxidermy, which he had started in Malaysia. Don was a lifelong learner and when computers first became accessible, he learned everything he could about them, focusing his master’s degree on computers and created CHIP: Challenge Independent Programming - publishing an educational program for teaching students how to use computers - and later opened his computer business.

Within a couple of years of his retirement 25 years ago, Don had a heart valve replacement, and then fully enjoyed his retirement years. He was active and always learning - puttering in his garden, making Malaysian coconut desserts from scratch, or ballroom dancing with Mary. In the past few years, Don helped organize weekly dances (along with Mary), made playlists and was the occasional back up DJ at the Confederation Seniors’ Centre. They also travelled extensively - finally realizing his dream of going to China in 2001 - and flew and cruised throughout the world until the end of summer 2024.

Don’s health started to decline in 2023 and over the past two years, increasingly deteriorated. At 85, he passed away peacefully on November 6, 2025 in Vancouver.

Don will always be remembered for his determination, humour, curiosity, and generosity by his wife, Mary, and his children, Karen (Axel) and Andre. He is much loved and greatly missed.

Honouring Dad

There is a poem that inspired my dad when he was a young man. You may have heard this before - The Ladder of St. Augustine, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Here are a few stanzas of the longer poem:

We have not wings, we cannot soar;

But we have feet to scale and climb

By slow degrees, by more and more,

The cloudy summits of our time.

The mighty pyramids of stone

That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,

When nearer seen, and better known,

Are but gigantic flights of stairs.

The distant mountains, that uprear

Their solid bastions to the skies,

Are crossed by pathways, that appear

As we to higher levels rise.

The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.

It is this last stanza that spoke to my dad as a youth and as an immigrant here in Canada.

He worked hard throughout the decades and reached great heights; he travelled the world and enjoyed life fully; and now he rests.

Through his toil, Dad gave us many opportunities for a good life. We will all remember him for his warmth, humour, generosity, curiosity and kindness. He will always be an inspiration to me. He loved us unconditionally, and we deeply love and miss him.