Irene Mok Mok Kit Ying Siu

Irene was born on April 4, 1947 in Dongguan County Ma Chong Village東莞麻涌, her ancestral village in China. She was the eldest of 6 children. Although life was hard in Hong Kong after the Second World War, her parents were able to provide a roof and an education for her until she finished high school (Form 6). Then she worked for a year to save up money, enough only for some of her first year expenses to study at Holy Names College in Oakland when she was 20.

There she met her future husband Mark. She had to baby-sit and work over the summer to put herself through college but she still graduated with honors in chemistry. She went to Canada to further her study in biochemistry and maintained a long distance romance with Mark. They finally got married in 1978 and settled in San Diego. Melvin, their son, was born in 1980. On May 29, 1983, when Irene was 5 months pregnant with Grace, their second child, a drunk driver put her into a persistent vegetative state. She was finally free of the confinement of her earthly body on February 2, 2014.

We couldn’t connect with Irene for the last 30 years. However, those dear to her have fond memories that we would like to share with you. When they are pieced together, Irene would become the person that she would like everyone to remember her as.

To Mark, Irene was an avid lover, a selfless and faithful wife, a loving mother, and above all, a dedicated Christian. After their marriage, she treated his extended family as if they were her own. She endured a lot and provided way more than an ordinary wife would.

Her siblings have diverse memories of Irene because of their differences in age (Irene and Doris were 16 years apart). However, they all agree that she was beautiful and gentle. Although their father loved Irene the most, she was always generous to her siblings, letting them have first pick with snacks (a luxury back in those days), giving them pocket money, and remembering their birthdays with gifts. She sent parcels of good items: leg warmers for the frozen winters in Kingston and packages of high protein dried fruit. She was extremely caring.

Some of her sisters remember her holding their tiny hands, her patience when she helped them with homework and difficult subjects in school, her determination to think first before asking, her encouragement, her payment of fees for French lessons, and her willingness to help with wedding preparations even with a newborn.

Irene enjoyed watching movies with her friends in the afternoons when the tickets were cheap. In those days, movie theatres allowed small children without tickets to go in with adults. Her younger siblings sat on her lap or on the arm of the chair and enjoyed the movies with her.

Irene didn’t know anyone when she first came to the US at the young and tender age of twenty. She was the first one in her family to become a Christian and shared her faith when she wrote home. She inspired her siblings to have the curiosity to explore new things and the courage to face new challenges. Some of them either immigrated to or studied in Canada.

Memories for the last 30 years were sad and painful. However, just as Doris said, “God has been teaching me in recent years about His mystic sovereign will “, perhaps Irene had a strong drive to live that she was able to see her children grow up. Only God and Irene would know what the last 30 years were like for her. However, one thing is for sure- “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Arrangements under the direction of Glen Abbey Mortuary, Bonita, CA.