Francis Kwok Wong

Francis K. Wong, 88, passed away peacefully at home, on Friday, October 23, 2020, after suffering from a stroke two years ago. He was born in what was known as Da Hao Chong Village (Dahaoyong), Doumen District, Zhong Shan County, Guangdong Province, China. He later started school in Macau until second grade, when his mother passed away. He went back to the village. It was the time of the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Foreign remittance from his father in the U.S. was blocked, causing severe financial hardship to the young family amid the devastation and cruelties of war. Nonetheless, with perseverance and hardwork, he completed a rigorous elementary school education of traditional Chinese literature and history. It was during these hard times that he resolved to better himself with a good education and be of value to others.

After the War, Francis and his younger brother, Douglas, was able to move to Guangzhou (Canton), the provincial capital city. He attended Sacred Heart Secondary School, and his brother attended Nanwu Middle School. These were among his happier and much treasured times.

When the government changed hands, Francis moved back to Macau to continue studying accounting and English for one year. Then he moved to Hong Kong to complete four years of secondary school at Saint Francis Xavier.

While working full-time, Francis continued going to evening school to study sociology and English literature, until his sweetheart and fiance Theresa, whom he met when he was living in Macau, came back from San Francisco. They were married in 1962.

The following year, they arrived at San Jose. There, Francis began another four years of college, majoring in business and accounting, while raising two sons. To support his growing family, he assumed all sorts of odd part-time jobs -from busboy, waiter, book-keeper, salesman, photographer, librarian, to aster flower grower, while his wife babysat for neighbors for supplementary income. His hardwork paid off. At the time of his graduation, his third son was born. A double blessing.

Despite the demanding family, school and part-time work, Francis had not forgotten his older brother whom he had lived with together back in Hong Kong. Without any delay, he sponsored his brother and family of eight to immigrate over. They were re-united in 1968.

With a college degree and a professional job, he felt settled down and was able to pursue his interest and passion. During his 11 years employment at Stanford University Accounting Department, he made use of his spare time to explore and study the vast collection of Chinese literature, history and cultural collections on campus at the nearby Stanford East Asia Library. This further enriched his expertise in this area and which formed a foundation for his later literary writings.

In 1983, Francis founded his own business on Castro Street, Mountain View, providing accounting and tax preparation services. Besides earning a steady living, this provided him an opportunity to interact with and help many fellow immigrants, including individuals and small businesses such as flower growers and restaurants. In a way, he was beginning to realize one of his childhood dreams of being of value to society. He loved his business so much that he held on to it to the end, never retiring from it.

Besides his business, he loved to participate actively in many benevolent associations such as Hee Shen Benevolent Association, Chinese American Citizen Alliance, and flower growers associations, often getting elected as president or other positions of responsibility.

When China opened up, Francis was eager to go back to visit his beloved hometown and birthplace. Beginning in late 1986, for over a decade, he organized and led a series of private tours to visit scenic and cultural locations of China. He enthusiastically shared the history and significance of the different destinations. He was happy to see the substantial improvements in living standards there since he left decades ago.

On other occasions, he visited his village of birth in Doumen, and the elementary school there. The whole student body would come out to greet him, and listened to his speeches -words to encourage and inspire them to study hard, be a good citizen, and strive to overcome adversities -which he himself was an exemplar. He helped with fund-raising and contributed to the upgrading of the school, and established scholarships for the students.

Francis had many interests and hobbies. His travel photos were published. He once sang solo on stage at an event in Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. He had a deep appreciation for the traditional Chinese paintings and caligraphies. He was editor of several special publications issued by various associations. But, above all, he loved to write traditional Chinese poems -something for which he was very well known. Every chance he gothe would compose a piece to mark an occasion, as best wishes to a friend in celebration, or to express his feelings, his gratitudes or his appreciations. Over the years, his poems had been published in numerous local newspapers and community publications, as well as in his hometown in China. And he always identified himself proudly as a member of Friend of Doumen, a Chinese literary club he founded and whose name evoked his love for his hometown.

Francis was a self-made man. He worked hard to educate himself so he could overcome poverty and adversities. He never complained. He loved his family. He was amiable and made lots of friends and connections. He earned numerous awards for his service contributions and his writings. He was thankful for his blessings. He once lamented that even though some clients wouldn't or couldn't pay him, some others would pay him extra in appreciation. Hence, he had peace with himself. Francis will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Francis is survived by his wife Theresa, sons Patrick, Victor, Edward (wife Jenny, daughter Sadie), and Calvin.