Dr. Harry Aloysius Louie

Harry A. Louie entered this world on August 26, 1938, in the family home in Chicago, Illinois. He was the youngest of 9 children born to father Hoey Louie and mother Woo Shee, Harry joined his siblings Bernard, Annette, Lucille, Ruth, Janette, Milton, Susan and Leonard.

Harry’s family made their home in Chinatown on Chicago’s south side, where he spent all his formative years as an inner city kid, learning his “street smarts” playing and hanging out with all the neighborhood locals, both young and old, most of whom had nicknames like Jughead, Hot Dog, Yum Yum, Pothead, Hoolie. His Chinese name was Doo Yee; so, he was nicknamed Dewey. Many of Harry’s neighbors were Italian. His godfather was Frank Bertucci; so, Harry had fun saying that he was half Italian and joked that he should be eligible to play in the Italian Open. As a matter of fact, Italian cuisine remained his 2nd favorite food next to Chinese, of course.

The family home was situated above St. Therese Chinese Catholic Mission, which was served by the Maryknoll priests. Living so close to the church, it was natural that Harry became interested in the activities offered through the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). He was baptized at St. Therese and served as an altar boy. St. Therese maintained a small school where Harry was taught by the Maryknoll nuns. He remembered how the nuns kept strict order in the classroom by rapping the students’ knuckles with a ruler. The classes were small; so, he went through the 8th grade with only 8 students in his grade level. Being a good student, he was accelerated and entered high school at the young age of 13. He started high school at a catholic school, but he transferred mid-year to Tilden Tech, where he graduated in 1955. Even though he was a good athlete, he did not have time to play team sports in high school, but he played basketball and football in community leagues on the weekends. St. Therese was next door to the Christian Union Church, which had a basketball court. Harry used to hop the fence to play on the court and was chased off many times by the minister of the church. His athleticism served him well, as he was the table tennis champion in the 16-18 year old division at St. Therese Mission in 1957. His good hand-eye coordination helped him earn the reputation of being a pool shark at the neighborhood pool hall. His brothers and sisters remember having to wait to eat supper because little brother Harry wasn’t home yet. His mother thought he was at school, but his siblings knew better and would call the pool hall looking for him. They were always told that he wasn’t there, but somehow, he would show up at home minutes later!

He graduated from Tilden Tech in 1955 and entered the University of Illinois Chicago campus at Navy Pier where he thought he would follow his brothers Milton and Leonard to pursue a career in engineering, but after a semester, he decided that he wanted to become a dentist. He entered the pre-dent program which led to his receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1959. He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Illinois in 1963, where he was a member of Delta Sigma Delta dental fraternity. His dental school classmates remember him as being very fast and meticulous in his procedures, a trait that would serve him well in his future dental practice.

In 1956 Harry met a 15 year old girl who was accompanying her Chinese speaking grandmother on the train from Memphis to Chicago. That young Chinese girl with a southern accent was Delores Joan Chew. That was the beginning of a 6 years’ long distance relationship that culminated in their marriage in Memphis on August 19, 1962. After their honeymoon in Nassau, Harry and Delores returned to Chicago for his last year of dental school.

Harry received his D.D.S. degree on June 4, 1963, after which he had to fulfill his 2 year obligation to serve in the military. When he received his orders, he was surprised to find out that he was assigned to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. He and Delores looked in an atlas to see where Fairfield was and were pleasantly surprised that it was just east of San Francisco. He came through basic training at Gunther Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He and Delores drove out to California in their first car, a shiny new black Thunderbird, to begin their new life in the military.

Having spent his entire life in Chicago’s inner city before this move to California, Harry found the weather and wide open spaces much to his liking. The proximity of Travis AFB to San Francisco found him and Delores driving into the city almost every weekend to enjoy the nightlife and dining. One of Harry’s passions was FOOD, and San Francisco offered so many cuisine choices, but San Francisco’s Chinatown was a favorite spot.

An important aspect of Harry’s life was shaped by his experience at Travis. There was a golf course on the base, and he thought he’d try his hand at the sport. Delores didn’t think he would like the sport because it seemed so slow compared to the contact sports he was used to playing. She was wrong because he was consumed by the sport and went out to play every chance he could. He said that golf was the most challenging of any sport he’d ever played. He told Delores that when he was in high school, he went to a Jr. Achievement Award luncheon that was held at a country club in the suburbs of Chicago. Being the inner city kid he was, he had never seen a golf course before. When he saw golfers heading out to the course, he said to himself, “That’s what I want to be able to do someday!” Harry definitely fulfilled that dream. Not only did he enjoy the game and the camaraderie among the golfers, but his gambling nature thrived on the competition and the betting that took place. His friends will attest to that.

In the fall of 1964, Harry and Delores took advantage of an opportunity for military personnel to fly “space available” from Travis to the air base at Tachikawa in Tokyo, Japan. They toured Tokyo and neighboring cities in Japan, and they also went to Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong that they got in touch with Fr. Michael McKiernan, a Maryknoll priest who was Harry’s favorite parish pastor at St. Therese in Chicago. Fr. McKiernan left Chicago to serve at St. Peter in Chains Catholic Church in Kowloon. Harry was happy to see him again. Harry introduced Delores to Fr. McKiernan, and when Fr. found out that they weren’t married in the Catholic Church, he married them again in a Catholic ceremony at St. Peter’s.

Working in the dental clinic at Travis, Harry had a chance to hone his dental skills performing all types of dental procedures on all ranks of service personnel on base from the enlisted to the highest ranking officers. That experience helped prepare him to start his own dental practice after he was discharged. After Harry and Delores’ first child, Laura Michelle, was born at Travis Hospital in1965, he started considering where to locate his dental practice. He considered opening up a practice in the Fairfield area, but he decided to locate his practice in Southern California because his brother Milton and sister Janette lived there and he would be close to family. So, when he was discharged in June, the family of three moved to southern California. Harry opened up his first office in Covina on College St., very close to Intercommunity Hospital. He became a member of the American Dental Association, the California Dental Association and the San Gabriel Valley Dental Society. He joined the Covina Host Lion’s Club and was now actively involved in the community.

The years between 1966 and 1972 saw Harry and Delores’ family grow from 3 to 6 with the births of Lisa Diane in 1968, Dina Marie in 1970 and Harry Bradford in 1972. Harry, Delores and Laura lived in an apartment on Azusa Avenue when they first arrived in West Covina in 1965. They moved to a house on Knollcrest Dr. in Covina in 1966. Then when child number 4 was expected, the family moved to their present home on Sunset Hill Dr. in West Covina in 1972.

During the children’s growing up years, many longstanding friendships were formed with neighbors and families of the children’s friends and families met through school organizations, the Lions Club and the San Gabriel Valley Chinese Cultural Association. Every 4th of July saw Harry and the family working the annual carnival/picnic at Covina Park that was sponsored by the Lions Club. Harry bowled with the Lions Club and of course he started golfing with his newfound friends. The guys travelled all over and had tee times at the break of dawn so they could get home to their families. In 1969, Harry joined South Hills Country Club so that he could play closer to home. The club soon became his 2nd home. If he wasn’t at home, he was either at the office or at the club. Even the children knew where to find their Dad. When their son Brad was 4 years old, he was being driven in the carpool to pre-school when they passed by the golf course on Cameron Avenue. Brad pointed to the course and said to the other children in the car “That’s my Dad’s office!” Harry served on the Board of the Directors of South Hills Country Club and over the years he chaired and served on many tournament committees. He was a fixture there whether on the golf course or in the men’s card room, nicknamed the “Armadillo Room,” where Harry was always ready for a gin game with his buddies. Although he won many golf trophies and awards, he was especially proud of being the Super Senior Club Champion in 2007.

Twelve of Harry’s golfing friends formed a group called “The Swingers,” and twice a year they had a golf outing, The winter “tournament” would be at the desert, and the summer outing would be at a distant golf resort. The families were always included; so, many friendships were formed then too, You can imagine with a name like “The Swingers” how eyes would roll when the group checked into hotels!

Another sport enjoyed by the family was snow skiing, which Harry and Delores took up in the late 1970’s. He learned to ski in Taos, New Mexico. On the first day of ski school, he was frustrated because he couldn’t stay up on the skis; so, he disgustedly took off his skis and walked back to the cabin. The next morning, however, he got up before anyone else and went out to the slopes. He was determined to conquer the sport…and he did! Harry especially liked the après ski time when the day of skiing was capped off with enjoying wine and spirits with his friends. Among his favorite ski trips was Innsbruck and Kitzbuhel, Austria, with friends, and Park City, Utah, with the family and friends.

Harry did not like being away from home. the office, or the golf course longer than 2 weeks, but he especially enjoyed their 3 week trip to China in 1980 because he was able to visit his family’s village home outside of Canton. The only time he played golf on a vacation abroad was at St. Andrews in Scotland while on a trip to England and Scotland. On that same trip, he and Delores were able to take in a round of the British Open at Turnberry and a Wimbledon tennis match in London.

Harry continued his practice at the College St. office until he went into partnership with Dr, Allen Wong and Dr. Milton Daniels in 1967 to build a two story free standing dental building at 360 S. California in West Covina two doors from the West Covina post office. He and Allen had the two downstairs suites, while Milt had the larger suite upstairs. Harry moved upstairs in 1969 to incorporate his practice with Dr. Daniels. This business arrangement continued until 1991 when the City of West Covina decided to expand the West Covina Shopping Center eastward. The City declared eminent domain on their property, and the doctors had to find another location for their dental practices, There was not enough time to find a suitable site to erect a new building; so, Harry and Dr. Daniels relocated their practice to an existing office building at 1710 W. Cameron. They moved into their beautiful new office in June of 1991. Harry and Milt Daniels remained in partnership at that location until Milt’s death in 2002, after which Harry continued on until he retired from dentistry in 2007.

In Harry’s 44 years of practicing dentistry, he was blessed with being able to treat several generations of patients, some of whom would fly in from other states to continue to have him do their dental work. He himself did not like to be kept waiting; so, he was cognizant of seeing his patients on time and not making them sit in the dental chair too long. His patients appreciated his gentle and quick hands. He was even known for being adept at administering painless shots. He had mixed feelings about retirement because he would miss seeing his patients with whom he had developed such an enduring friendship.

Harry decided that after 44 years of practicing dentistry, he was ready to retire; so, he listed his practice for sale in February 2007. The practice sold right away, and he found himself officially retired in March 2007. He was on the South Hills Thursday golf team and was now more available to play when needed. He filled his spare time checking his stocks on the computer, watching Jim Kramer on Mad Money, reading and cooking. Harry’s love for food came partly from his father, who owned a Chinese American restaurant on Chicago’s south side. Since his father was always at the restaurant, Harry seldom saw him unless he went to the restaurant; so, on occasion, he would go to the restaurant and just watch him cook. He especially remembered his father’s egg roll recipe and tried to copy it at home. He had always been around restaurants during his college years too, as he worked as a waiter in several Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. He also worked in catering at Chicago’s event center McCormick Place, where he was on the staff that waited on President Kennedy during one of his visits to the Windy City. Even before his retirement, he took over the kitchen from Delores and would prepare the evening meal. He loved scouring cookbooks and gathering recipes from magazines and the paper. His ideal recipe was one that required only 4 to 5 ingredients. Pasta recipes were his favorite. He was creative in his cooking, but he left the cleaning up for Delores.

Harry was proud that his four children had grown up to be successful and independent adults. Even in his altered state of mind, he knew that during the past 5 months, they made sure one of them was there to help Delores watch over him at the hospital, the skilled nursing facility and at home. He loved Laura, Lisa, Dina and Brad so much, and he loved being Gung Gung to his 5 grandchildren Deni, Zoe, Kayla, Ryan and Makani.

Harry had been exceptionally healthy all his life. The entire 44 years that he practiced dentistry, he hardly ever had to miss a day at the office because he was sick. He went to the track or worked out several times a week. His admission to Ronald Reagan UCLA Hospital in October 2010 was the first time he had ever had to spend one night in a hospital. He was used to being strong and able to conquer anything he set his mind to, but he could not beat the lymphoma that overtook his body in 2009. Even after numerous chemotherapy treatments and a successful stem cell transplant in November 2010, he could not conquer the aggressive lymphoma that started to affect his central nervous system in January 2011. He was in and out of Santa Monica UCLA Hospital from the beginning of the year until May 18th when the doctors said they had exhausted all treatments and could not halt the progression of this terrible disease. On May 23rd, he was able to begin hospice care at home. The family was happy to bring Harry home to spend his last days in the comfort of his own home. He passed away peacefully at home on Memorial Day, May 30th, with Delores, Lisa, Dina and Brad at his side.

Harry led a full, active life and expressed to Delores when he was first diagnosed with lymphoma that he has had a good life and had no regrets and was satisfied that he had accomplished everything he wanted to do in life. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends, but his memory will live on in all of us. He will always be remembered for his ready smile, his generosity, mischievous nature, his competitive spirit, his “Louie look” and his proud swagger. Harry was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. May he rest in peace.