Beloved sister and mother, Carole Jean Yee (born October 20,1943 San Francisco), passed away peacefully on July 11, 2020 at UCSF Hospital of non-covid complications. As a San Francisco native, Carole devoted her life towards helping others since age 4. She started out as the youngest salesperson selling raffle tickets and collecting donations to help build the Buddha’s Universal Church, the largest Buddhist church in the United States at the time. She is survived by her daughter, Alisa Yee; son, J. Christopher Yee; daughter-in-law Jenny Yee; granddaughter, Lauren Yee; sister, Janet Dong; brother, Burton Mar; sister-in-law Cindy; brother in-law Robert Yee and sister-in-law Linda Yee; Nieces and nephews: Darryl Leong, Markus Leong, Kobi Mar, Michael Dong, Brandon Mar, Jillian Spannan and Allison Yee, grand-nephew Kai Leong and grand-neice Luminari Dong. During Carole's 49 years of marriage to Dr. James M. Yee, their favorite memories include participating in many community service projects, humanitarian missions to Mexico, playing tennis and dining out.
In everything she did, Carole was always helping others. Although she was formerly trained as a dental assistant, she co-founded a medical translation company called Graphic Phrases that had a nationwide distribution to help non-English speakers communicate with the medical staff. She was a founding member of Ding Sum Inc, in 1998, a non-profit organization that supports groups to further the understanding and practice of compassion to all. Her vivacious and tenacious personality to reach out to all groups from elementary school aged children to seniors culminated in the formation of SF Friends Who Care (http://sffriendswhocare.org/), a community theater group that demonstrates that sharing and caring are the basis for true friendship. A major part of their mission is to bring free, live theater experiences to multi-cultural and multi-generational audiences. In addition, she spearheaded stress reduction seminars for seniors' groups that shares a stress reduction technique to enhance one's understanding of the origin of stress and eliminate stress right from the beginning. Since then the group continues to reach over 900 senior citizens each month at 36 sites in San Francisco including Adult Day Health, neighborhood senior centers, and substance abuse programs.
Carole had a special place in her heart for community-- in small settings such as opening her home to host Senior Tai-chi classes or serving as the President of the Residential Council at SRG Coventry Place. In larger settings she served on the Board of Directors for the following entities: Edgewood Center for Children and Families, the Red Cross and Pomeroy Recreation & Rehabilitation Center. She was also proud to be part of Mayor Dianne Feinstein’s Taiwan Sister City Commission in 1986. Her commitment and determination for helping others and outgoing personality will be greatly missed by her family, friends, and everyone whose lives she touched.
No services will be held due to the Covid pandemic. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations to be made to Ding Sum Inc. 1600 Mason Street #6, San Francisco, CA 94133 or to PayPal Giving Fund charity name Ding Sum, Inc.
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