Morris Huang

Morris was born and raised in Zhongshan, China. He was born on May 18th, 1962 and came to the United States when he was 21 years old with his family on June 9th, 1983. Morris got his first job as a restaurant worker in Oakland Chinatown in 1983. He studied and learned English at City College of San Francisco for 2 years. He bought his first house in San Francisco with his younger sister Nicole and his parents (father: Shong Jun Huang; mother: Mei Fang Huang) in 1985. His sister Nicole introduced her best friend Diane who was living in China at the time to him and he married Diane in 1991. Morris and Diane started their romance after they got married. One year later, their son Brian was born on December 31st, 1992. Their love grew very quickly after Diane moved to the United States in 1991.

Morris believed in a simple life and always had the intent to create harmony with everyone. He was a rather carefree person and was always happy with his family. In particular, his tender and unconditional love had a tremendous impact on his son Brian’s life. Morris enjoyed taking trips with his sister Nicole and was a big fan of her husband Terry’s fine-cooking.

Morris bought his second house and moved to Union City in 2001 to be closer with Diane’s younger sister Fannie and husband Chi Hung so that they could be good neighbors. Morris drove his son Brian to San Francisco Chinatown every Saturday, so he could attend Chinese School because Morris thought it was very important for Brian to learn to read and write his native language. He highly valued education and always did what he could to ensure that Brian would go to college to have a bright future. Also, he would drive his mother and father to go grocery shopping while he was in San Francisco. Once in a while, he would enjoy going to the Horse Tracks with his older brother Calvin to gamble a little for fun. Morris had very little time to spend with his older sister Wendy as they both had two full time jobs in the United States, but Wendy was the decision maker when he was growing up in China.

Because Morris didn’t want to put any financial burden on his wife Diane, he decided to work two full time jobs as an airport security guard and a warehouse worker for more than a decade in order to support his family.

Morris was first diagnosed with liver cancer on October 19th, 2010 and passed away on January 19th, 2011. During the last three months of fighting Liver Cancer, he remained positive and hopeful. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet with Mr. Sau Wing Lam who led him to Christ. He invited Jesus into his life to accept the eternity life that Jesus gave. Later, he was baptized by Reverend Tony Lam on January 6th, 2011. Morris also had the chance to meet with so many wonderful people from the Church. It was wonderful to experience the love and care from the church members both at home and in the hospital. On Morris last day on earth, the family surrounded him in the hospital bed while Pastor Lam with the help of Connie Wong offered care and comfort to all of us.

Morris was very proud of having a wonderful wife Diane who took good care of him during the whole time he was sick and his loving son Brian.

Morris’s last wish was for everyone to get together to celebrate his life, not to focus on his death. Morris will forever be living in the hearts of all of the people who love him. May God rest His soul and the prefect peace to his family.

My Dad: Morris Huang

By Brian Huang

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming to the celebration of my dad, Morris Huang’s, life. I’m sure he is watching us and is very happy to see you all. My dad lived a simple life, yet it was filled with joy and love for his family. My mom and I would always joke around with him. We always had fun during the meals that we ate together. Anyone who saw our home could see that it was a very warm, cozy environment. I just wished these good times would have lasted longer. Paradise was at home. Really. But I know that my dad is in a better place now, so although I miss him dearly, I can be reassured that he is happy.

My dad was a great man. He is my idol who I wish I could be even half as amazing as he was. He can be described as the most modest, hardworking, and selfless of men. He was a quiet person who I had never saw show any arrogance before or offend anyone and he worked two jobs in order to support our family. I admire and thank him so much for doing this. I don’t think I would ever be selfless enough to sacrifice myself that much so that my family could have a better future. Tony Stark is Iron Man? Please, my dad was the real Iron Man. Tony Stark’s strength and will is nowhere nearly as strong as my dad’s. Just recently, in the first two weeks my dad found out that he had cancer and my mom wasn’t feeling very well because of this fateful news, he still drove the car to come pick me up from school. When I got in the car I was like “Whoa! Dad, you’re driving?” He really was Iron Man. He was extremely calm for someone who was proclaimed a death sentence and he confronted his sickness with optimism. Therefore, he was the last person anyone in my family could imagine to be struck with such a disease. I was so angry upon hearing this news not only because I can’t bear the notion of losing my dad, but also because of how unjust the world is. I can see no reason why such a noble man like my dad could be taken so early, except perhaps God no longer wanted to see him working so hard and wanted him to forever be happy in Heaven.

I had some great times with my dad. That’s why it was so hard when my dad had to leave. One thing my dad and I loved to do was watch NBA basketball games together. We were always so into them, well, at least when a Lakers game was on. Oh my God, my dad and I were the most devoted Lakers fans. Our eyes were glued onto the TV whenever they played and we always stuck with them even during those miserable times where they didn’t even make the playoffs and we loved Kobe Bryant, too. I still do. I have a poster of him on my wall. I remember I was like nine when my dad first introduced me to watching basketball and he knew a lot about it, too. I could ask him almost any question about it and he would know, even about the times when Michael Jordan was still playing. But my dad wasn’t the best companion to play basketball with. I remember I would always end up crying whenever I played basketball and some other sports with him because he would never take it easy on me and, of course, as a 9 or 10 year old, I wasn’t able to steal the ball from him. But I’m sure I could steal the ball from him now; probably even beat him.

One of the most important things that I have to thank my dad for is driving me to Chinese School in San Francisco, Chinatown every Saturday. Of course, Chinese School isn’t the most fun place to be and I would much rather be sleeping in, but I really, really appreciate my dad for sacrificing his sleeping time (which he definitely needed more than me), so that I can get an education. He always did whatever he could so that I could live a better life and be successful. I just wish he could have lived to see me graduate and, more importantly, see what college (or colleges) I got into. But it’s okay, I’m sure he could look down from Heaven and see, and that’s if he doesn’t know already. Tell me in my dreams, Dad! I wanna know which universities accepted me before March. He was always really concerned about the status of my applications and my SAT scores. Well, typical Asian parent, I guess. But not everyone is fortunate enough and proud to have such a selfless and loving dad. I remember I would often be late to Chinese School, too; always taking so long to get ready. But my dad would always wait patiently outside in the car for me to come out. Even though he would sometimes scold me for being so slow (for my own benefit), he can still be considered very, very patient. But I will do things faster now, Dad. I know you were really annoyed by my slowness and my long showers. My dad was also very tolerant along with being patient. He rarely got mad. He would just let things go easily and move on. He was a good-natured man whom everyone loved.

Speaking of love, I have a funny story about my dad (and I) on a Valentine’s Day a number of years ago. On the day before Valentine’s Day, I don’t remember where my mom went that day, but she wasn’t home, so my dad wanted to go get some flowers for my mom as a gift and told me to come along with him. We went to a Safeway and looked around for the perfect flowers. But unfortunately, the roses were all sold out and we couldn’t find my mom’s favorite flower, a type of white orchid. However, we did find a bouquet of beautiful white lilies sitting in a tub of water. So we bought that one. When we got home, my dad carefully placed the lilies into a vase and added some water into it. Then, he had to go off to work that evening. When my mom got home, I presented her with the vase of lilies, feeling proud of our good taste. And my mom really liked it. My dad called my mom and I don’t know what they said, but I’m sure my dad was really pleased by my mom’s reaction. So then I went to sleep, and the events occurred like this, according to my mom… She saw that the lilies were a little too tall, so she decided to trim them down. But when she cut the stems, well… she couldn’t! Because there was a metal wire in between! The flowers were fake and my dad and I had no clue! Well, the lilies were kinda sitting in water, so we thought they were real. I mean, c’mon, who puts fake flowers in water? And the texture was really real, too, and I’ll show that we weren’t the only ones fooled. Well, so my mom told me and my dad the next day- my dad was shocked and couldn’t believe it- and we just laughed and… it was okay. We had a fun Valentine’s Day that year. My mom kept the flowers and left them in the vase, but of course, she poured all the unnecessary water out. Then, she placed them on the dining table. Those lilies could have fooled anyone. A few days later, my mom’s friend came to our house (I forgot why) but she came. After sitting down for a few moments, she sneezed a few times and said that she was allergic to our flowers. Our fake flowers! So my mom was like, “Really? You’re really allergic to these flowers?” And her friend was like, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t buy this type of flower; they let out a lot of pollen.” So my mom said, “These flowers are fake.” And the reaction on her face was priceless. We all just started laughing. That was one heck of a Valentine’s Day gift that my dad bought. I will make sure to get something for my mom for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day every year from now on. Don’t you worry, Dad. Just relax, and rest in peace. We will all be reunited one day and party in Heaven. But for now, you will always be in our hearts.