Helen Bruce Sing

The only child of Harry Wong and Lily Tom Wong, Helen was born in Toronto, Ontario on August 4, 1928. Her middle name was the first name of the master of the house where her father served as lead cook. Helen and her mother often served as companions to their employer’s daughter, going on outings or horseback riding with her.

In 1937, Harry directed that Lily should take young Helen back to China to get a Chinese education. They traveled by train across Canada to Vancouver, and transferred to the ocean liner Empress of Japan for the voyage to Hong Kong. Because WWII had broken out in mainland China, the trip was cut short and they spent their brief time there meeting their family members in Hong Kong and left by one of the last voyages of the Empress of Japan from Hong Kong back to Canada. The ship’s routing required a refueling stop in Tokyo. While there, the Japanese Army threatened to board the ship to remove all passengers of Chinese descent. After some hard negotiations by the ship’s Captain, the ship was allowed to refuel without being boarded.

After their return, Helen’s parents opened a restaurant in Toronto, where she worked after school. Helen graduated from Oakwood Collegiate, and then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Victoria College of the University of Toronto. In addition, Helen took a secretarial course, which led to employment as a legal secretary.

Helen initially met Edward (“Ed”) Sing from Toledo, OH at a mixer for young people of Chinese descent in Toronto in 1948. They exchanged Christmas cards for several years before Ed started courting her when he relocated to Buffalo, NY to work at Bell Aerosystems. Helen and Ed married in May 1954 in a grand celebration in her hometown of Toronto. After her marriage to Ed, Helen was not able to immigrate to the United States right away as a Canadian citizen as she was of Chinese descent and the US still had the archaic quota system in place that limited immigration of people of Asian descent (“Asian Exclusion Act”). This required the couple to temporarily reside in Fort Erie, Ontario until Helen’s “number” came up.

Eventually, the couple was able to reside in the US and they settled in Buffalo, NY and then Kenmore, NY. Helen worked as a secretary at the University of Buffalo Medical School until the birth of their son Bruce in 1956, and later gave birth to daughter Tricia in 1960. Helen was a primarily a homemaker until 1974, staying busy with volunteering at Bruce’s and Tricia’s schools, making flower arrangements with the Kenmore Garden Club, planning and executing family events, and designing and sewing custom-made garments for friends and family. Ed’s brother Daniel and his wife Ruth were close by and the two families spent lots of time together for kids’ activities and jointly hosting extended family gatherings. The proximity of Buffalo to Toronto meant that there were frequent weekend trips there to visit Helen’s lifelong friends and their families. This also meant that her mother, Lily, was able to visit often and was an integral part of many family activities. The family relocated to Williamsville, NY in 1970.

Just as Ed was transferred by his company to New Orleans in 1974, Helen was recommended for a secretarial position at General Motors’ Motors Holding Division branch office in Williamsville, NY. She took it, making it possible for Tricia to finish high school in Williamsville. Helen was so highly thought of at her workplace, that when Ed took a job at GMC Truck and Coach in Michigan, Helen received a transfer to serve as an executive secretary at Motors Holding’s headquarters in Detroit.

The family settled in Bloomfield, Michigan, close to Ed’s workplace. Though farther away from Toronto than Buffalo, the couple was able to maintain frequent trips back to Toronto to continue long term friendships. Locally, the couple established a number of friends and were able to interact frequently with members of the extended Sing family in Detroit and Toledo. Professionally, Helen truly enjoyed her work with colleagues at Motors Holding Division, both at the “Building” as well as the far-flung regional team, making many long-term friendships that continued long after her retirement from General Motors at the end of 1998.

After retirement, Helen joined Ed in volunteering at the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), earning recognition as an “Unsung Hero” at one of their national conventions. One of Helen’s mission contributions with OCA was preparing newly landed immigrants for the naturalization process. This work eventually also resulted in Helen naturalizing as a US citizen, while maintaining her Canadian citizenship, in 2008.

Helen and Ed also traveled extensively, often with mother Lily, seeing family and friends in North America, as well as taking trips to Asia and Europe. They were able to participate in many of the significant moments in their grandchildren’s lives including recitals, graduations and weddings. As they were fortunate to be part of their grandchildren’s lives into adulthood, they were very proud of all their grandchildren’s accomplishments.

In April 2017, Helen and Ed moved to the Indianapolis area taking an apartment at Woodland Terrace of Carmel, to be closer to their son Bruce and his wife Janice. Helen quickly made friends, and the couple enjoyed many Wednesday outings and Friday Happy Hours with their fellow residents.

Until her last couple of years, Helen was a great conversationalist, helping others feel at ease in almost any social setting. Yet, she had a strong sense of justice, with her children calling her “dragon lady”! Those close to Helen will remember her sense of style, elegance, hospitality and determination, plus the delicious desserts and beautiful garments she created for family and friends.

In her last few years, Helen was blessed to be under the care of amazing and caring caregivers, medical providers and residential staff. For this, the family is extremely grateful!

Helen was preceded in death by her husband Ed, and is survived by son Bruce Sing (Janice) and daughter Tricia Han (C.J.); grandchildren Charles Sing (Rebecca Oh), Michelle Sing (Steve Ehret), Peter and Elisabeth Han.