In Hong Kong she met a very well educated westernized and successful businessman Kam Wah Wong and they were married in 1942, not withstanding the privations hunger and general misery suffered by people in Hong Kong and China during the Japanese occupation. They had five children Kevin, Sandra, Mary, Theresa and Peter.
Mary, Peter, Theresa and Sandra are all here today. Sadly Kevin, Rose’s oldest son died some years ago and is buried here alongside his mother.
In Hong Kong Rose was what is known as a “tai tai”, with maids/housekeepers and drivers at her disposal. She led a very active life after Hong Kong was liberated from the Japanese and enjoyed a very comfortable lifestyle until in 1958, without warning, she became a single parent. All five children were still of school-age and attending private schools and Rose had to find work to support and educate all of them. A daunting task for anyone, but, Rose was a fighter and a very determined person. She had the mind and temperament of a businessman, and, in addition, was very hard-working. As a result she became a very successful real estate broker in Hong Kong, and, in fact, was recognized as one of the top real estate brokers in Hong Kong.
When she was not working she was playing mah-jongg going to the horse racing at the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club in Hong Kong, and, playing any sort of card games. They were very few card games she could not play, and, she was very good at all of them. It was a useful skill to help her in dealing with her developer and builder clients at a social level.
By 1998 after all her children had left Hong Kong for Australia, Canada and the USA but she continued to live in Hong Kong and continued to work there mainly because that was where all her friends were, and, with whom she played mah-jongg and cards every day after work.
When in 2002 she finally decided to retire, she moved to Seattle, but, unfortunately had very few friends in the area. Fortunately she was able to live with her youngest son - Peter, and, he and granddaughter Alison frequently took her to the casino in Snoqualmie where she like to indulge her enthusiasm for card games and gambling. However as she was as astute a gambler as she was a businesswoman, she had a strict ceiling of $200 per session loss before she called it a day . Unfortunately no one was able to ascertain how much she actually won!
More recently when she became quite infirm she moved into the Aegis Garden (a care home) in Newcastle, where she was still playing mah-jongg almost until the end. Only three days before she passed she was able to be present at her granddaughter Alison’s wedding, which was a bitter sweet moment for all concerned.
Today all her children and grandchildren and her too young to have known her, great grandchildren, mourn her passing. They and all who knew her celebrate her life of challenge, resilience, grit and success, which they all greatly admire and hope to emulate and give thanks to her for her love and sacrifice.
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