84, of Brookline, a loving wife and mother passed away on December 8, 2018. A most beloved wife of Perry V.Z. Wong for 58 years. Born December 20, 1933 to the late Bing Tom Lem and Wong Yee in Wan Mien Hung, China. She is survived by her daughter Bella Wong and Steve Brand and their children Jacob and Logan, son Gari Wong and Rosalind Switalski and their children Daniel and Allison, and son Jason Wong and Leslie Wong and their children Jocelyn and Benjamin. She is also survived by her sister Jean Soo Hoo, brother Wing Yip Lem, plus 29 nieces and nephews.
She attended grammar school in China near her place of birth and then high school in Hong Kong. Upon graduation she joined her father, with her brother and mother, in Orillia, Canada. She learned many things from her parents about the restaurant business and became a Canadian citizen. In 1957 she chose to join her sister Jean and her family in Boston and study Fashion Design. She met Perry and they wed in Boston on January 17, 1960. In August, she and Perry opened the Young and Yee Restaurant, named for the both of them, in Harvard Square, Cambridge. Working many long hours essentially every day of the year, together, they managed all aspects of the restaurant serving thousands upon thousands of diners, many of who became life long friends. After her children made their way through college in the US, she decided to become a US citizen in 1987. She and Perry finally chose to close the restaurant and retire March 2001.
Joan was very active in the Boston Chinatown community. She was the Treasurer for the Wong’s Association and could be found there each weekend participating in dance, Tai Chi or music classes. In their retirement, she and Perry loved studying Mandarin and ballroom dancing. It gave them great pleasure to travel with their ‘dance troupe friends’ to beautiful sites spanning between Alaska and Mississippi in the US as well as many exotic venues in parts of Asia, Central America, and Europe.
While family was foremost for Joan, she was also deeply empathetic to anyone less fortunate and driven to provide aid where possible. She was generous with her time and ever gracious and caring to anyone who had the fortune of her acquaintance. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend visiting hours on Thursday, December 13 from 2 – 8 PM at Boston Harborside-Waterman’s Funeral Home, 580 Commercial St., Boston, MA 02109. Parking attendants will be present. Funeral from Waterman’s on Friday, December 14 from 10AM – Noon before leaving in procession and then burial at Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston.
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