Meiching Wong Eng 黃美貞 (書名) / 黃佩雲 (乳名)

Life for Meiching Wong Eng began on January 12, 1928 in Taisan, China. Her parents were Wong Do Hong (Edward) and Shue Ting Wong. She had one younger sister, Nga Wan Wong Li. Her childhood years were spent in China. In 1947, she was introduced to Thlick Hong Eng after he returned to China. Following a six-week courtship, they were married in Hong Kong.

In December, 1948, they came to the United States and settled in San Antonio, Texas, where T.H. Eng had lived before his military service during World War II. Her first child, Kenneth, was born in 1950 while they were living in San Antonio. Desiring a better economic future, the young family moved to Houston.

Typical of the local Chinese community at that time, Meiching took care of the homefront while her husband was employed in the grocery business. A daughter, Doris, was born in 1954. Meiching and her husband felt the need to further improve their financial resources to meet the needs of a growing family, so they decided to go into the grocery business for themselves.

In 1955, they rented a small building in Acres Homes on Houston’s northside and started Save Way Food Market located at 1038 W. Little York Road. They worked long, hard hours, seven days a week. Their only break from work was on Sundays, when they would close the store for half a day in order to attend services at Chinese Baptist Church. Meiching was a member of CBC for over 50 years.

It was always a struggle in the grocery business, but they persevered and they improved financially. After approximately five years they decided that they needed to build their own building. So they bought some property in Sunnyside in December, 1959 and eventually built a building. The store opened but not too long thereafter, Hurricane Carla blew through Houston in September, 1961 and heavily damaged the building. Meiching and her husband did not let a little adversity hinder them. They struggled, but with perseverance and a “don’t look backwards” attitude, they repaired and re-opened the business after several months.

Meiching and her husband had two more children, William in 1965, and Robert in 1969. The family eventually sold the business and retired from the grocery business in 1973.

Meiching Wong Eng is survived by her sister, Nga Wan Wong Li (Tit Sang); half-sisters, Mayling Szeto (Paul) and Sue Wong; children, Kenneth Eng (Lin), Doris Eng, William Eng (Khanh-Dzung), and Robert Eng; grandchildren, Crystal Eng, Tiffany Eng, Huy-Anh Eng, Minh-Anh Eng, Nam-Anh Eng, and Hoang-Anh Eng; nieces and nephews, Richard Li, Lily Li, David Li, Rose Li, Shanling Szeto, and Anthony Szeto; grandnephew, Henry Quinto and sons, Joseph and Marco (Abby); and numerous cousins.