Yuk Chun Loo-Wong

Yuk Chun was born in Canton, Mainland China. Her father was a school teacher and her mother was a traditional Chinese housewife. She was the eldest of five siblings with three brothers and one sister.

They grew up in a village where there was no running water and electricity. Her parents always appreciated her helping hands, such as babysitting, cleaning, water delivery…etc. She didn’t have the opportunity to go to school during her early childhood. With no education background, her first day of school was in 3rd grade. Amazingly she was diligent and was able to catch up with all the coursework and finished her junior high school with excellent grades.

Back in the day, arranged marriage was common. She was arranged to marry Wing Don Loo in 1954. She moved from China to Hong Kong in 1955 while her parents, brothers, and sister had stayed in China. Moving from a village to a city had a major change of lifestyle. Nevertheless, she was very fond of her heritage and never learned to speak the city dialogue when she was in Hong Kong.

She was a hard worker with no complaints--she did all the house chores for the whole family. Her husband Wing was a professional tailor. He taught and trained her in sewing, alteration skills, and clothing designs.

Her eldest daughter was born in 1956. Her elder son was born in 1960, her younger daughter was born in 1965 and her youngest son was born in 1967. She raised all four children in Hong Kong and had stayed there for 20 years.

Loo’s family immigrated to Portland, Oregon in 1977. Aligned with her profession, she immediately found a job working as a seamstress for Dennis Uniform Manufacturing Co in Portland. She earned exemplary compliments on her job skills. There were many Chinese folks at work and with the close Chinese community she made many friends.

Later her friends introduced her to attend English as secondary language evening classes. Even though she didn’t speak fluent English, she loved the American culture and she could communicate with her neighbors with her simple English. What’s more, she was the first American citizen in the family who passed her written and oral citizenship test in English.

In 1996, she had attended service with her daughters at the Portland Chinese Missionary and Alliance Church for some time. That was the beginning of her walks with Christ.

In her spare time, she loved to catch up with the local news by reading Chinese newspapers, knitting, shopping, and dining dim sum. She loved to explore new things and would go out with her daughters to try different cuisines. Often times she would work on perfecting her homemade foods and goodies that she generously shared with family, friends, and neighbors. Her neighbors always loved her deep-fried goodies.

In 1990, her brothers and sister’s family immigrated to Los Angeles California. She was well respected by her siblings, nieces, and nephews so she had the joy of visiting them in CA. They all had unforgettable memories.

Eventually, as the year progressed, she slowed down, cooked less, and at age 91, she passed away peacefully in hospital with health issues.

Yuk Chun is survived by her daughter Christine, Son Raymond, daughter Elizabeth, son Ken, daughter-in-law Christine, granddaughter Karen, Emila, grand-son-in-law Christopher, three great-grandchildren, brothers, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephews and nieces.