3-17-05 In Memory of...

For Immediate Release Contact: Chris Freeland
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 (626) 939-8402


CITY OF WEST COVINA ADJOURNS COUNCIL MEETING IN MEMORY OF
BOY JIN WONG, MOTHER OF MAYOR PRO TEM BEN WONG

Tuesday evening’s West Covina City Council meeting was adjourned in the memory of City Councilmember Ben Wong’s mother, Boy Jin Wong, a 48 year West Covina resident, who passed away late Saturday evening surrounded by her loving family.

For nearly 46 years, Mrs. Wong owned and operated the Great Wall Restaurant that she and her late husband, Bing Tew Wong, founded in 1955. Born in southern mainland China in 1914, Mrs. Wong lived a long, productive, and fulfilling life as a dedicated mother, loving grandmother, doting great-grandmother, and successful businesswoman. She is survived by her three daughters – Margie Tam of Montebello, Shirley Hoskin of West Covina, and Cynthia Toy of Steamboat Springs, Colorado – her son, three sons-in-law, her daughter-in-law, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Boy Jin and Bing Tew Wong opened the Great Wall Restaurant in West Covina during the decade of the 1950s, when the city expanded in population from less than 5,000 residents to over 50,000 by 1960. As the community grew, so too did their family business. When the family finally decided to close the restaurant in 2001, then West Covina Chamber Executive Director, Fred Burkhardt said, “The Great Wall is an institution of West Covina that is going to be severely missed.” Her son, Councilmember Ben Wong recalled, “Despite her limited English language skills, countless former Great Wall Restaurant customers will remember being warmly greeted by her and her enduring smile. She treated everybody like they were guests in her home.”

Notwithstanding her humble beginnings, Mrs. Wong was generous in sharing her good fortune. Having little formal education herself, she and her husband donated money to provide scholarships and build a school in their village back in China. Additionally, she participated in and contributed to numerous local organizations and charities. ­In 1994, she was the Citrus Valley Health Foundation’s honoree for their Annual “Light Up a Life” holiday tree lighting, for her victory over breast cancer.

The family will celebrate Boy Jin Wong’s 90 years of life, starting with a visitation at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier on Friday evening, March 18th from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Memorial services will be held at Rose Hill’s SkyRose Chapel on Saturday, March 19th at 1:00 P.M. and following the graveside committal, friends and family are invited to join the Wong’s at the NBC Seafood Restaurant in Monterey Park.

The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to:

Citrus Valley Health Foundation
1115 South Sunset Avenue
West Covina, CA 91790
626-814-2421

CAUSE (The Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment)
260 S. Los Robles #118
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-356-9838

Chinese-American Citizens Alliance Foundation
763 Yale Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
323-876-6460