Lan Ying Wong

(1922-2016)

Our grandmother Lan Ying Wong was born in Canton, China on Dec 23, 1922.

Her family moved to Hong Kong a few years later. She survived the Japanese

attack on Hong Kong in WWII by dressing up as an old woman and hiding money

in her hair bun. To this day, she never enjoyed congee much as it reminded her

of wartimes. In 1941 she married the love of her life: Nai To Wong.

Unlike the conventions of the day, my grandmother was a career woman: she

owned a successful beauty salon and had many important clients. It is here that

she developed her acute sense of aesthetics. She always had perfectly

manicured nails and coiffed hair. Her priorities were to work outside of the home

and only had two children Mimi and David.

In 1972, my grandparents dropped everything in Hong Kong to immigrate to

Canada. It was then that my grandmother, at the age of 50, learned how to cook!

She proved that it is never too late to learn something! Boy did she make up for

lost time! Being an insomniac, she prepared, chopped, cooked, made various

stocks way into the night! Everything was made from scratch, and she prided

herself in making rare Chinese delicacies: abalone, conpoy, lotus rice wraps to

name a few. Her cooking was unrivalled. The fridge was always filled with

prepared food and guests were welcome with little to no notice.

She had other pastimes too: she knitted beautiful sweaters and played mahjong.

She often played with ladies who were a whole generation younger because only

they could keep up with her. She won often of course and by the way, could out

drink anybody younger too.

In 1987, my beloved grandfather passed away of cancer. In 2001, she had a

minor stroke and struggled to keep serving the people she loved most through

cooking. In her old age, she kept her mind razor sharp, she always knew the day

and the date because she ripped off a page of her chinese calendar every

morning. She never missed a grandchild or great-grandchild’s birthday and

always had a red envelope prepared ahead of time.

Lan Ying Wong is survived by her daughter Mimi, son-in-law Dennis, daughter-inlaw

Angela, five grandchildren Carol, Karen, June, Raymond and Norman and 7

great-grandchildren..