Sylvia Lai-Yin (Lau) Quan

Sylvia was born in the Seychelles on February 28, 1947 as the tenth and youngest child of Low-Thue and Angela Chan. Raised in Hong Kong, she attended Good Hope Catholic Girls School. Her family owned a textile factory and she had fond memories of going there after school, collecting fabric scraps, and sewing her own clothes from a young age. Sylvia made the bold move to the U.S. as an international student to attend Miami-Dade College in Florida where she earned her associates degree in Hotel Management with honors. She then transferred to the new Hilton School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston and graduated in its second class. While at UH, she met her future husband, Gordon Quan who was a graduate student at UH. They married in 1974 and recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.

In the early years, she juggled many roles as a school teacher, waitress, and real estate agent to help their young family. They were blessed with three daughters – Caroline, Kristen and Katherine. Sylvia supported Gordon through law school and encouraged him to open his own law firm, promising to handle the business side so that he could concentrate on handling client matters. Together, the firm grew to become one of the largest immigration law firms in the country. Sylvia was the heart of the firm, and she was like a second mother to many of the staff.

Sylvia cared for and was active in her community, teaching both citizenship classes and Chinese school for several years. A devout Catholic, she served for many years as a eucharistic minister at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Memorial Park. She worked with the Spiritan Chinese Mission to raise funds to bring priests from China to obtain their education in the U.S. and then return to China to spread the gospel. She also had many artistic interests, ranging from Chinese painting and calligraphy to stained glass and Ikebana flower arranging. At the encouragement of her daughters, she published “Nourishing Wisdom for Life” – a cookbook with traditional Chinese postpartum recipes for healing.

Sylvia was small in stature but mighty in spirit, unafraid to share her words of wisdom, and a rock to all those around her. She loved her family and will be deeply missed. Sylvia leaves behind her husband, Gordon, and their children — Caroline Long, her husband Patrick, and their two children Victoria and Katia; Kristen Hammill, her husband Hunter, and their three children Dashiell, Harper, and Hunter Axel; and Katherine Ahmann, her husband Nate, and their two children Josephine and Bruce.

She was preceded in death by her siblings, Tsai Lau Lai Wah (Taiwan), Max Low-Thue (San Francisco), and Mary Lee (Houston). She is survived by her siblings Daisy Dong (Vancouver), Robert Low-Thue (Houston), Philip Low-Thue (Seychelles), Paul Low-Thue (Hong Kong), Sebert Lau (Vancouver), and their spouses, and Helen Lo (Vancouver). She is also survived by numerous treasured nieces and nephews.

The funeral mass will be live streamed and recorded for those who are unable to attend in person. The family kindly requests that those who may be feeling ill join the funeral mass using the live stream.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to two charities dear to her heart, the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research (fpwr.org) or St. Theresa’s Catholic Church (sttheresa.cc).