Dr. James Leong Way

James Leong Way, 97, passed away peacefully the morning of April 13, 2023. He was the last in his generation of five brothers and three sisters to leave this earth. James was born in Watsonville, CA and grew up in San Francisco. He graduated from Lowell High School, the University of California-Berkeley and earned his PhD in Pharmacology at George Washington University. In his youth he was an accomplished athlete as a shot-putter, sprinter, hurdler, ping pong player and collegiate boxer.

As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin he met and successfully courted the love of his life, Helen Wong. They were married in 1957 and raised three children together. In 1967 they moved to Pullman, WA where he became a professor in Pharmacology at Washington State University. During this time he took the family on sabbaticals to London, England and Taipei, Taiwan. He became an internationally renowned expert on cyanide toxicity and antagonists with over a hundred research publications including chapters in books. He was an invited speaker in many countries throughout Asia and Europe. In 1982 the offer of an endowed chair in Pharmacology and Toxicology lured him to Texas A & M University for two decades until his retirement. James cared deeply about the many graduate students he taught and was proud of their extensive professional accomplishments.

After retiring from academia, he eventually returned to his roots in San Francisco to live his best life with his siblings, childhood friends and new friends. He loved to ballroom dance around the world, travel nationally and internationally, golf, experience new restaurants and was a season ticket holder to the ballet.

He was an avid skier, fisherman, gourmet, traveler, scuba diver, racquet and handball player and golfer. He completed the Bay to Breakers race through age 75. Most of the winter holidays were spent skiing with his family at Schweitzer Basin in Sandpoint, ID. He was a great father and attended nearly all of his kids sporting events and activities despite having a heavy travel schedule for work.

He was famous for roasting a whole pig on a custom spit over coals for parties and always wearing a bow tie at work. He was pugnacious in his battles over principle and reveled in his victories.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen. He will be dearly missed by his three children, Lani (Peter), Jon (Thao) and Lori (Fred); grandchildren: Jasmin, Helen, James, Kevin, Jasper and Ruby.

A celebration of life is planned for August 5, 2023 starting at the Green Street Mortuary in San Francisco.

Donations in memory of James can be made to The Wong Family Asian Scholarship at https://statelinecf.org/scholarship/gim-wong-asian-scholarship/