Tommy Yee Obituary

Lung Yee

Obituary

Lung Gow Yee August 28, 1928 - August 4, 2012 Lung or "Tommy" was born in Hoiping located in the Toishan region of Southern China. It was there where he developed his enduring strong work ethic and a life long love of sports. As a child, he would work alongside his parents, Fong Yit Hong and Wing Tong, cultivating rice on their plot of land. The waterways of the Pearl Delta provided many opportunities for him to become an avid swimmer and participate in dragon boat races. The family would briefly move to Shanghai. With his father serving in the US Army during World War II, the family moved to the United States. They would call San Francisco their new home where Lung graduated from Galileo High School. Soon thereafter, he followed his father?s footsteps and joined the US Army. He served in the military for three years and was primarily based in Japan. During leaves, he would often take trips to Hong Kong. It was in Hong Kong where he met his wife Nancy, who he married. The two of them adored each other and went on to spend 58 happy years together. After his tour of duty, Lung returned to America with his bride to help his parents and brother, Everett, establish a laundry business in Santa Cruz. It was there that the ever-loving couple began their own family and welcomed their first child and daughter, Emma, into their arms. The three of them would later move to Los Angeles, where they created a loving and supporting home for the next 55 years. The family continued to grow in Los Angeles. Lung and Nancy were blessed with three more children: Victor, Annie and Timmy. Lung would also start a new career as a restaurateur in Los Angeles. He was a well known waiter working at the Man Fook Low restaurant. Lung took his years of restaurant experience and opened his own restaurant in Encino called, House of Yee. Always looking for more challenging ventures, he decided upon a career change and opened Sunshine Printing for over 30 years, a successful printing and stationery store that included the first US Post Office within Chinatown. After years of working, Lung decided to retire and spend more time with his family especially with his grandchildren, Michelle and Michael. Lung planned daily outings to bring the family together. These outings included going to the movies, sharing his love of the Cantonese opera or simply having the family get together for a meal. He also wanted to spend more time pursuing his interests in sports and travel. He loved the San Francisco Giants and 49ers and watched as many games as possible. He also watched the games in person by visiting San Francisco often. When his teams made it to the championships, he was there too. He went to see two Superbowls. He also loved to travel throughout the world. He took his family on trips to Hawaii, Guam, Hong Kong, Okinawa, Taipei, Macau, Tokyo and Beijing. As much as Lung enjoyed traveling to exotic places, some of his favorite journeys were the simple road trips around America in the family station wagon, especially when going back to visit Santa Cruz. He loved being around his family and these trips are some of the fondest memories they have of Lung, a loving Husband, Father and Grandfather. He went on his final trip and is at his destination right now. He is in heaven where he is probably swimming the rivers of Toishan, with his parents proudly watching him speed along the waterways. Lung is survived by his loving wife Nancy; children Emma, Victor, Annie (Stanford) and Timmy; grandchildren Michelle (David) and Michael; brother Everett (Lane). There will be a viewing on Saturday August 11, 2012 3:00PM-5:00PM and a service will be on Sunday August 12, 2012 2:00PM at Universal Chung Wah Mortuary, 225 N. Garfield Avenue, Alhambra CA 91801. Lung was loved by all who knew him. We will miss him dearly.

Published in the Los Angeles Times from August 10 to August 11, 2012