On July 27, 2023, Cheng Chi Chong passed away at Burnaby Hospital with his daughter at his side in Vancouver, BC, Canada, one month after he received left hip replacement surgery. He was 101 years young, upright, self-sufficient, proud and fiercely independent.

Cheng Chi Chong was born in Shanghai, China, on June 11, 1922. He had one older brother. His father died when he was a young lad. Chi Chong grew into a strikingly handsome man, 5 ft 10 inches tall, about 155 lbs and with a sprightly personality. He was a scholar of exceptional intelligence and graduated from St John’s University, Shanghai, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, often regarded as the “Harvard of China” according to Wikipedia. The Communist government closed and broke up the University in 1952.

After graduation, Chi Chong joined Chekiang First Bank (now merged with Wing Hang Bank) in the 1940s in Shanghai and subsequently relocated to Hong Kong around 1950 after his mother passed away. In 1951, he married his work colleague Hsia Lu Lu and their first child was a son named Cheng Hong Lap or Eddie Cheng, born March, 1952. Their second child was a daughter named Cheng Hong Nie or Connie Cheng, born November, 1956. Chi Chong was a strict and principled father who set high standards of academic achievement and taught his children to always strive to do one’s best. Lu Lu was a gentle person and exemplary wife and mother. She consistently ranked top of her class in school but her family was traditional and did not support her going to college after she graduated high school summa cum laude. She dedicated herself to raising her family once married and became a full time homemaker.

Chi Chong was extremely responsible and dedicated to his work as well as his family. He had a wide circle of friends that consisted of his colleagues, bank clients and neighbors. He was promoted to Assistant Bank Manager, then Bank Manager and eventually General Manager of Chekiang First Bank Ltd. The family first resided in Causeway Bay, then moved to Happy Valley and eventually Tai Hang Rd, all on Hong Kong Island.

Eddie was sent off to the UK for school when he was 13 and Connie to the US when she was 17. They both eventually settled and became citizens of those two countries and worked as well as married there. Other than eating out, an occasional movie and traveling abroad in Asia with friends, Chi Chong enjoyed playing tennis in his youth and then took up golf in his late 40s. His wife soon joined him and fell in love with golf as well. They joined the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club as full members and spent every weekend traveling to Fanling in the New Territories to play golf as a couple or with friends. Golf became their number one passion in life and Chi Chong was an excellent golfer. He received a plaque for being the first golfer to achieve a hole-in-one at a newly opened resort golf club while abroad. He also scored “birdies” regularly.

In the mid-1980s, Chi Chong retired from Chekiang First Bank which was his entire livelihood/career and emigrated to Vancouver BC with Lu Lu. They purchased a two-bedroom apartment on Robson Street near Stanley Park and happily settled into this slice of heaven. They kept their apartment in Hong Kong on Tai Hang Road and traveled back every summer to visit for several months. But the Cheng family of four was spread out in three continents — North America, Asia and Europe. Therefore, family gatherings were precious, few and far between.

Lu Lu was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July of 2005 and passed away after a valiantly fought battle in February, 2006. She went from Vancouver to New York in August to receive specialized surgery. During the six months she was hospitalized at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Chi Chong was by her side for at least 10 hours everyday. After Lu Lu was gone, Chi Chong was devastated and deeply mourned his life partner. He became a different man — more easy going. Despite still being a handsome man, he never ever once entertained the thought of finding another partner. From 2006 to 2014, he stayed with Connie for six months a year and then in Vancouver by himself for 6 months due to the requirements of the Canadian tax system. In 2016, he started developing a little dementia and with help from his best friend Tse Mei Koo’s son Daren, moved to a one-bedroom at Mulberry Parc Assisted Living in Burnaby. The dementia stabilized in 2019 and despite having little short term memory, he still had logic, reasoning and held onto most of his long term memories. During the time at Mulberry, Chi Chong developed a more cheerful and peaceful disposition. He stayed in his apartment most of the time and enjoyed watching sports events on tv like soccer games, golf tournaments and tennis matches such as Wimbledon and US Open.

Despite being a little thinner and more frail, Chi Chong was still physically strong. He survived two bouts of COVID with just a scratchy throat and was able to walk up a long flight of stairs on his own on his 101th birthday. However, he remained proudly independent. For example, when Daren helped installed bed and toilet railings in his apartment, the railings would be disassembled by Chi Chong immediately after his departure.

During his lifetime, Chi Chong was an incredibly generous and giving man, yet always ridiculously thrifty with himself. The furniture in his one bedroom apartment at Mulberry was falling apart and completely worn out. Yet, he had helped his son and daughter and grandchildren with the purchase of their first homes. He also sent money to relatives in China who were struggling financially.

Chi Chong will be deeply mourned and missed by his daughter, Connie, his son-in-law Roy Berggren, his Godson Daren and his granddaughters Joanna Evans and Alexandra Cheng. He loved his family, his friends, and is hopefully reunited at the rainbow bridge with Lu Lu and able to enjoy a good game of golf while his son Eddie and old pals are cheering on.