Eric Vinh Chan

Eric was a loving husband and father. A kind and humble man, with a calm and gentle voice. His pride and joy were his 3 children and his 3 grandchildren. He did not ask for much from us or anyone else. He was happiest spending time with family enjoying a meal or walking in the park. He gave us the greatest gift of experiencing unconditional true love, for which we are forever grateful. He inspired us with his work ethic, determination and resourcefulness. We will miss his kind eyes, big smile and laughter everyday. We are deeply saddened by his passing and he will forever be remembered with love.

Eric is survived by his wife, Linda Le Linh, his three children, Helen, Kevin and Stephen, and his three grandchildren Ethan, Nathan and Logan. He is also survived by his mother Quach Phuong and his 9 siblings, who are living around the world in Vietnam, New Zealand and the US.

Cambodia and Vietnam

Eric was born 17 July 1951 in Phnomh Penh, Cambodia. He was the second of 10 siblings, 6 sons and 4 daughters, born to his father Tran Luong (Guangdong, China) and mother Ho Hoa (Cambodia), both of Chinese Cambodian descent. In April 1975, Eric and his family fled Cambodia to Vietnam, and settled in Chau Doc, a town along the Mekong Delta. Dad would make regular trips from Chau Doc to Saigon's wholesale markets as a trader. He met Mom as a customer of her family business selling thread and yarns. Mom soon fell in love with dad because he was kind, honest and very handsome. Dad also enjoyed going out and take her on his motorbike to go out for meals and sweet soup, movies, even a Teresa Deng concert. Mom and Dad's shared language was Teochew, although Dad quickly picked up Cantonese and Vietnamese.

In 1979, Dad and Mom left Vietnam on a fishing boat, joining an exodus of millions of Vietnamese boat people fleeing hardship and oppression. They survived a pirate attack and arrived at a refugee camp in Malaysia (Bidong Island), which at its peak, had over 40,000 refugees crammed into the size of a football field.

In 1979, they left the refugee camp for Vancouver, Canada, through the private sponsorship from a Church. Dad and Mom's first home was in Chinatown, they lived at the Mau Dan Cooperative Housing Estate on Keefer St. Dad’s first job was a tiler at Star Tile, followed by Dales Furniture on Victoria Drive. They were hard manual labour jobs but he rarely complained and did them with pride.

In 1996, our family moved from Chinatown to Port Coquitlam. Our parents had saved enough to buy a home and chose a location they considered safe with a good school. They moved away from Chinatown with the hope of giving their children a better environment and education.

In 2013, after almost two decades, Dad and Mom moved to a condo at Coquitlam Centre. Shortly thereafter, Dad became a proud Grandpa of twins in 2015, Ethan and Nathan, and in 2022, Logan. Some highlights include travelling as a family for 33 days consecutively through HK, Bali, Korea and Japan in September 2017 for Kevin's wedding.

Dad was a fighter until the very end. On 5 January 2024 he was admitted into the ICU at the Royal Columbian Hospital intubated and on a ventilator for pneumonia. By late February he was able to breathe without a ventilator, which the doctors considered a remarkable recovery. He was extubated on 7 March transferred from ICU to the ward on 13 March 2024 with the goal of building strength. Unfortunately, he soon developed complications with pneumonia in the other healthy lung. He unexpectedly passed away in his sleep on Tuesday 19 March 2024 at 4.55am. May he rest in peace.

Babu we love you forever ❤️