Sun Yip Lee

Lee Jim (Sun Yip) passed away on June 3, 2017. Predeceased his wife Yuk Ping and his oldest son Don. Survived by his children Lily, David (Cindy), Judy (Doug) and Debbie and grandkids Connor, Ceilidh, Jarod, Matthew, Kimberley, Marisa, Steven and Callan.

Sun Yip was born May 20, 1931, in Taishan, China and moved to Vancouver in 1952. During the early years, Jim worked hard and long hours to pay off the plane ticket that brought him to Canada to start a new life. In 1958, he married Yuk Ping. They had 5 children together and they both did their best to raise their children to be good people.

Dad worked in the dry cleaning business in Alberta when he first came to Canada. He and his wife worked in Claresholm and Taber where the eldest 4 children were born. Dad saw opportunity and moved to Surrey, BC, where the youngest was born. Dad worked as a chef at the Rickshaw restaurant in Surrey for many years. Dad & mom started their own business venture in 1975. They opened several restaurants – Cal-Van, Pender Burger and B & J to name a few. They worked long hours – but they taught the kids the meaning of an earned dollar. Dad retired with mom in 1988. After retirement, and with the kids grown, they travelled with friends to their homeland of China, travelled to the corners of the USA (Hawaii, New York, Alaska and San Francisco). During retirement, they enjoyed playing mahjong with friends and having coffee at the Oakridge Mall and McDonalds. They also did Tai Chi at Queen Elizabeth Park and loved to babysit their grandkids.

After mom passed, Dad lived with Lily & Debbie for 14 years but also travelled with the family on short trips to Whistler, Victoria, Parksville and Calgary. During those years with Lily and Debbie, they kept Dad occupied, cooked meals for him and kept him happy. Dad probably thought it was the other way around. We will all miss Dad, as his passing was sudden. Dad always valued his family, his friends but most of all his grandkids. We will keep him in our memories and will always love him and miss him. We are happy that he is with his wife and oldest son now!