Ton Seung Gee

Ton-Seung “Johnny” Gee was born on December 23, 1925 (8th day of the 11th lunar month, Year of the Ox), the son of Alberto Gee (1890-1958) and Tao-kiu Yu Gee (1890-1987) in the Toisan area of Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China. He was the youngest of five children and had 1 brother and 3 sisters. Johnny's father, Alberto, was a U.S. citizen who traded Chinese medicinal herbs in the Philippines, China, and the U.S. and had probably started making trips to the U.S. by the 1900's. In the mid-1940’s, Alberto came from San Francisco to visit Houston with other Gee cousins in order to raise money to rebuild the Gee’s Association Building in San Francisco, which had burned down. Alberto had tried on more than one occasion to bring his son to the U.S., but presumably due to U.S.’s Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Geary Act of 1892, Alberto was not able to bring Johnny to the U.S. until 1948.

Meanwhile, Johnny remained in southern China. In his adolescence and young adulthood, his schooling was protracted as a result of Japanese military aggression in China and the Second World War. Johnny entered Canton (Guangzhou) University in 1946 and began his law studies. Johnny was in Hong Kong December 7, 1941 when Japanese bombed the then British Crown Colony of Hong Kong as part of a coordinated bombing that included the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as part of a Japanese World War 2 campaign to keep the U.S. from interfering with Japan’s plan to extend military offensive into Southeast Asia and the overseas colonies of Great Britain and The Netherlands. This was a harrowing time for civilians in war as well as being a politically dynamic and unstable time in China. As the Communist Party became more powerful, Johnny emigrated to the U.S., leaving China by ship in November 1947 and reaching San Francisco three weeks later.

Johnny was the first of his siblings to emigrate from China and the only one of his family to choose Houston as his ultimate destination. In 1950, Johnny arrived in Houston. Upon arrival, Johnny, along with Sammy Gee, Son N. Gee, the Asia Food Market, and the Nanking Food Market formed the Shep-Terrace Food Market. In 1954, Johnny bought complete ownership of the Shep-Terrace Food Market, and with Edward Gee, who had just completed a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, formed the Y&G Food Market at 2724 Brinkman in the northern Heights area of Houston.

In 1960, Johnny married Shirley (Shiu-Ping) Lee Gee (b. 1927) in Reno, Nevada after a four month courtship. Perhaps Johnny connected with Shirley over their shared experiences of being athletes in track and field sports and enthusiasm for basketball. After a wedding reception in San Francisco, Johnny and Shirley returned to Houston.

When Edward and Johnny separated their business venture in 1964, Johnny and Shirley continued to operate Y&G Food Market. Though they had two toddlers, Shirley was able to work at the store because Johnny's mother, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1963, helped with child care. In 1972, Johnny's family settled in the Spring Branch area of Houston. Y&G Food Market was closed in 1974 due to changes in the ownership of the land on which the store was located. A year later, Johnny joined Jumbo Markets until Jumbo closed their operations in Houston in 1989. He and Shirley spent a brief period of time as part owners of Golden China Restaurant and finally entered full time retirement in 1989. Johnny's maintained interest in investing in the U.S. stock market, which kept him abreast of U.S. politics and world events. Until his late 70’s, Johnny also enjoyed traveling and ballroom dancing with Shirley. Later, he discovered an interest in flower gardening. After a prolonged illness, Johnny’s 56-year marriage to Shirley ended when Shirley passed away in 2016. Until the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Johnny still enjoyed grocery shopping and biweekly trips to the Chik-fil-A restaurant in Memorial City Mall. This great reduction in activity during the pandemic reduced Johnny’s strength and stamina and started a downward physical decline. In late 2022, Johnny was hospitalized for dehydration. Afterward, he returned to live at home with palliative home care and with his daughter Annie’s assistance. On July 19, 2024, Johnny peacefully passed away while in hospice care.

Johnny is preceded in rest by his spouse Shirley, his parents, and his siblings.

Johnny is survived by three daughters and two sons, Nancy Lee Jones and husband Samuel Morgan Jones of Houston, TX, Annie L. Gee of Houston, TX, Sandra Burkhead Gee, MD of Houston, TX, Tony L. Gee of Austin, TX, & Wilbert L. Gee and wife Catharine Joyce Gee (neé Van Sickle) of Rochester, MN; along with 6 grandchildren, Samuel Lee Jones and wife Micah Gayle Jones (neé McCombs) of Spring, TX, Jessica Morgan Neufeld (neé Jones) and husband Derek Neufeld of Kansas City, MO, Deborah Michele Burkhead (father is James M. Burkhead III, M.D.) of Houston, TX, Caleb Thomas Gee of Williston, VT, Abby Nicole Gee of Minneapolis, MN & Mikayla Amber Gee of St. Paul, MN; and 3 great grandchildren, Samuel Fox Jones of Spring, TX, Felix Théoden Eric Neufeld of Kansas City, MO & Salma Adelina Morgan Neufeld of Kansas City, MO; as well as several nieces and nephews in Canada and the metro Washington, D.C. area.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Houston Gee Family Educational Scholarship Fund at GeeFamilyEdFund.org