Richard Yee Chan

Richard Yee Chan was born to Thomas and Sunnie Chan on July 29, 1937 in San Francisco. He was the 2nd son of Thomas and Sunnie; Anthony is his older brother. Dad spent his formative years in Chinatown San Francisco, attending Commodore Stockton Elementary school. As an acute asthmatic, he was sent away several different times to convalescent homes for months at a time. At the age of 8, Richard’s family was desperate to find a better environment for his asthma and moved to Los Angeles, CA because the air was supposed to be better for his lungs than in San Francisco. His family began their Los Angeles lives managing several hotels, the Hill Street Hotel from 1945 to 1949 and the Wentworth Hotel on Flower Street from 1949 to 1952. From 1952 to 1960, Richard and his family lived on Highland Ave. now called Adams Street. From Highland Ave., he attended Nightingale Junior High and then Dorsey High School. After graduating from Dorsey High School, Richard spent two years at UCLA taking care of his general education requirements and then he transferred to the cross town rival USC Trojans. There he completed his Doctorate of Pharmacology in 1961 with a minor in Chinese History, Mandarin and Chinese Literature.

St. Bridget’s Chinese Catholic Center in Los Angeles, CA was Richard and his family’s home parish. St. Bridget’s was the cornerstone and foundation of his family’s faith. He received the Sacraments of Baptism on July 29, 1956 dad and Confirmation on April 20, 1958 at St. Bridget’s.

Richard’s professional career began in 1961 at D&B Pharmacy in South Central LA.

A year after graduating from USC, Richard met Cynthia. They were married on February 17, 1963, where they were surrounded by many family and dear friends. After a wonderful honeymoon in the Hawaiian Islands, they settled down on Hillcrest Avenue in Crenshaw.

In 1964, Richard purchased an 8 unit apartment property on Somerset Drive and began his Property Management career. The same year, Timothy was born on February 2, 1964. In the winter of 1964, Richard changed jobs to Sunlake Drugs in Silverlake, CA. Richard’s 2nd son, Daniel, was born on June 9, 1965 and his 3rd son, Clifford, was born on Oct 23, 1968, completing his family of 3 boys.

After Clifford’s birth, Richard joined Clark Drugs in Gardena. At Clark Drugs in Gardena, he rose from staff Pharmacist to Assistant Manager. During his tenure in Gardena, he became very active in UFCW Local 770 meetings and activities. In 1976, Richard was promoted to Pharmacy Manager and took a position at Clark Drugs Rosemead. In 1988, he left Clark Drugs and joined UFCW as a Business Representative. Richard retired from UFCW in 2003. During his retirement, he spent many hours at the YMCA exercising and traveling the world with Cynthia and many times, his entire family.

In 2007, Richard was diagnosed with lung cancer. Kaiser successfully operated and removed 1/3 of his right lung. In the winter of 2014, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He successfully completed his radiation treatment by March 2015.

On September 11, 2015, Richard passed away peacefully with his family by his side praying together.

Richard loved to travel and see National Parks as well as foreign countries. He wanted to see the world which he did with Cynthia, his boys and at times, his entire family. He loved classical music and had his 3 sons trained to play the violin. Richard also had a love of good food and desserts. He never turned down a second helping of dessert.

He loved his family dearly: his parents, his wife of 53 years, his 3 sons, his 3 daughters in law and his 5 grandchildren. His legacy will be: love of family and music and food, service to church and labor union, and enjoying the wonders of the world through travel.