Mary Lee Chin

She was born on September 25, 1923 in the Guangdong Province of China. When she was 23 years old, she married Sai Young Chin, a sojourner to America, the Gold Mountain, who had returned to China, but planned to go back in the near future. By the time he returned to America, they already had two sons, Kong Wah and Simon. He arranged to have her come to America shortly afterwards, and they lived in Washington DC for a short time, where their third son Wilson was born. In 1952 they moved to Houston, where she eventually gave birth to three more sons, Hugh, Kenneth, and Raymond.

In 1958 they bought one of the very few Chinese grocery stores in town. The Chung Hing business slowly grew as did the Chinese population in Houston. By the time she retired, she had made many friends and acquaintances who had come to her store to buy their groceries. She also knew many of their kids by name, and many of them still remember her because she gave them fortune cookies.

She was predeceased by her husband, Sai Young Chin. She is survived by her sons, Kong Wah (Rosemary), Simon (Terri), Wilson (Emily), Hugh, Kenneth, and Raymond. She had nine grandchildren (Nancy, Alice, Anne, Barry, Teresa, Simona, Cindy, Vicky, and Mary) and nine great-grandchildren.