Virginia Kwok Chun Tong Sze

Her family moved to Shanghai when she was a young girl. She went to Eliza Yates Girls' School, established by the Southern Baptist Church, and finished middle school there. She later went to Zhongde Girls' School which was founded by her grandfather.

When the family moved again to Guangzhou (Canton), she was sent to Pooi Do Girls' School and graduated there in 1934. She had always been an excellent student, frequently the teacher's pet.

After graduation, Virginia moved to Hong Kong. She worked in her uncle's bank for a few years. She was a quick learner in the business world, which had helped her to invest wisely later.

She and her twin sisters had to flee the city after it was fallen to the Japanese. On her way to Chongqing, Sichuan, she met Mr. Yen Po Sze and he was immediately smitten. They were married in Guilin, Guangxi on March 10, 1943. Their first son, Albert was born there in 1944.

After the war ended in 1945, the young family moved a few times. They had been to Nanjing, Taiwan, Canton and finally arrived to Hong Kong in 1948. Joanna was born in 1947 in Canton. Sandy was born in 1950 in Hong Kong, followed by Lawrence in 1951.

Family quickly expanded when more relatives arrived. With just her husband's salary, Virginia managed the household admirably. She saved and started investing in the stock market, made money and bought small apartments. After renting for years, she and her husband bought their own home in 1959. The address was incredible: 1, A, High Street...

With a distaste for colonial education, the four children were sent to Chinese Christian Schools in Hong Kong. Later on they all attended college in the United States, stayed on to work and eventually have families. Yen Po and Virginia immigrated to the States in 1999 to be near their children. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2003. It was a wonderful party attended by many. Yen Po Sze passed away in 2005.

Virginia lived a devoted Christian life and had influenced her children to attend church and youth groups as they were growing up. She went to service regularly until suffering from a stroke in 2012.

Of the many interests she had, the biggest was flower arrangement. She had studied the Japanese style of Ikebana and enjoyed making many such arrangements over the years. She had also devoted her time in making floral displays at church for Sunday services.

Virginia also enjoyed cooking and had a few specialties that were frequent requests among family and friends. Her baking was her children's favorite memory: red bean cakes, pound cakes for birthdays, turnip cakes and dumplings for Chinese new Years....her turkeys were the 'must have' for Thanksgiving.

As the children had grown up and left home one by one, Virginia found time to further develop her interests. She took classes in Acupressure, crafts and enjoyed reading cookbooks and flower arrangement books. She was so diligent she made careful notes with sketches.

Virginia lived a long and meaningful life. She was admired by those who had come to know her. she was gentle, graceful, always ready to praise and never miserly on smiles. During her bedridden years, she had enjoyed bible verses read to her and songs sung to her. She loved to look at pictures of her great grand children. She will be missed dearly by all.

Virginia passed away peacefully on August 11, 2015 which makes her 100 years old. She is survived by her four children, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.