Wing Hing "Paul" Wong

Wing H. "Paul" Wong was born in Chai Wan, Hong Kong on May 2, 1955. He grew up in a bustling household of six children. During his teenage years, he spent time playing soccer, skipping school and dreaming up ways to explore the world and make money. He managed a small bakery shop (a gift from his father to focus on building a business) and met his best friend and future brother in law who worked in a bakery across the street.

In his early twenties, he left Hong Kong to travel to Venezuela to learn first hand what it would be like to work in a restaurant. After learning three months worth of behind the scenes work in the kitchen, he decided he would make his next leap to the United States. With his charismatic and passionate personality, Wing easily found many opportunities in the restaurant business. After gaining hands-on experience from server and bartender positions at various locations, he opened his first Chinese restaurant called Jade Buddha in Independence, MO. He married his wife Belinda in the early 80s, and shortly after, they both became naturalized citizens. He and Belinda pursued many restaurant endeavors while raising three kids and moved from town to town, from Independence to Blue Springs and then on to Kansas City North (near MCI airport) to downtown Kansas City and then up to Platte City and back to Independence, and finally landed westward in Kansas.

For over 25 years, Wing was an ambitious go-getter who was successful at inspiring others to start businesses of their own (two brothers in the U.S.) and pursued a vast selection of restaurant ventures including specialties with Chinese Cuisine, Asian Fusion, a Seafood Bar & Grill, Mexican cuisine and a fair share of food trucks at local KCMO festivals. In addition to being a hard-working entrepreneur, he was a father to three college graduates and husband to his wife, who was also his most-trusted business partner. Together they created a tight-knit community of friends within the greater Kansas City area and they gave back to local charities whenever they could. Wing loved to travel and was able to visit many global destinations including Paris, Tokyo, Macau, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, and many cities in the United States. He vacationed in New York City where his eldest daughter graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, he was proud to visit Texas for his second daughter’s graduation from Baylor University, and enjoyed the West Coast sunshine of Southern California’s Long Beach University for his son’s graduation last year.

Most recently in late May 2015, he was diagnosed with an advanced stage of lung cancer and brain cancer. After suffering from two strokes, the combination of the cancer diagnoses and the after-stroke symptoms took a toll on his body, and in less than two months, he left this earth and is now with the Lord. Wing loved to travel and talked about visiting the Great Wall in China right before he passed on July 22, 2015. He lived his life to the fullest as a well-travelled, culinary genius that dreamt big and loved even bigger. His passion for food, adventure, and meeting new friends from all walks of life still lives on through his family. In 2016, his family intends to bring his ashes to visit the Great Wall to carry out one of his last wishes.

This week, his family invites you to attend his Celebration of Life Ceremony to be held on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at St. Therese Catholic Church on Hwy 9. Visitation begins at 2pm and service begins at 3pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family would gladly accept donations to help contribute to the funeral and cremation costs. Checks can be made out to Derek Wong, please email: [email protected] for a mailing address.