Yee Lum

He was the 6th child out of 8 children. He was the youngest of the four sons. Among the siblings left, he is survived by one younger sister… his moi moi -- "Number 7." She currently lives in San Francisco.

As he grew up in China, he played basketball in his younger years and was able to get an education through high school. Fortunately he didn't have to travel far to get to his schools.

As he grew up in China, he always thought of and knew he wanted to make dim sum. Yung Gon had a natural talent for cooking and admired his cousin who had a dim sum place in China. Even though the family didn't have much money, he hired a master chef from China to train him how to make these delicious pastries by hand.

Yung Gon and Chan Lin Yee were destined to fall in love with each other. They grew up and were neighbors in the same village of Sam Heung. They both acquired visa's and were able to leave China to go to Hong Kong. At the age of 20 and 30, respectively, Chan Lin Yee and Yung Gon , were married on October 26, 1951.

Right after they were married, in November of that same year, Yung Gon took a ship to the United States to seek a new venture, while Chan Lin Yee stayed behind in Macao for three years.

He arrived in America with a new name: Yee Lum.

He was able to find work as a dishwasher and eventually as a cook in San Francisco's Chinatown.

He moved to Fresno for a brief while where he worked at a restaurant as he awaited for the arrival of his bride. When Chan Lin Yee arrived in American in November, 1954, Yung Gon moved back to San Francisco to be with his wife. He began working at Fung Loy Restaurant, a dim sum house, for two years.

From 1956 to 1962, Yung Gon worked at Dick Sum Restaurant as a dim sum chef.

In 1962, he saved enough money to open up his own dim sum store at 1145 Stockton Street in Chinatown called Hope (Hop) Dick Pastry. It was a very popular store filled with freshly hand-made pastries. He worked very hard every day for the next 12 years. During the weekdays, he'd get up by 3 a.m., and on weekends he'd get up by 1 a.m., to go to the store and make preparations and cook these wonderfully filled pastries. He'd typically end each day and be home by 7 p.m. -- in time for dinner with his family. In this pastry shop, they had a staff of 8 workers, including himself and his wife.

At the age of 54, he retired in the summer of 1974, and he and his family moved out of Chinatown to live in the Richmond District.

Yung Gon was blessed with four sons: Raymond was born in 1955, and between 1957 – 1959, his other three sons were born: Tommy, Ronald, and Edwin… they were born just one year apart.

After his retirement, he was finally able to travel. He really enjoyed visiting and traveling to many new places… his vacations included New York, Costa Rica, Back to China while on a cruise, and even a trip to Disneyland!

Some of Yung Gon's favorite past times were spent by playing Mah Jong at his Association, Gway Sen Tong. He'd make the trip by taking the California Bus from his home to the club in Chinatown as often as he could. He also enjoyed spending time babysitting along-side his wife… at first the children they cared for were by referral from friends, but eventually, they began babysitting their own grandchildren: A total of 10 – Seven Granddaughters and Three Grandsons. He also enjoyed taking walks every morning, barbecuing for the family, and gardening.

At every opportunity he'd sit in front of his TV as he loved to watch sports… any sports…. While watching football, baseball, or basketball… you'd often hear him mutter something about the game while enjoying a good batch of freshly made beef jerky.

When his grandchildren were old enough to understand the game of mah jong… he'd look forward to the Friday night family dinners and teaching them how to play this game.

Yung Gon was full of life and vitality up until the Fall of 2010, and we'll always remember him that way.