Lawrence Chew Chan was born on Sept. 8, 1929 in San Francisco, CA. He was the third child of Wo Chan and Lai Shee Chan. After a bout with pneumonia and suffering for several years with Alzheimer’s, he passed away on March 12, 2014.
He lived for most of his life in a beautiful flat in San Francisco with a million dollar view of the Palace of Fine Arts, a picturesque heirloom of the World’s Fair, Coit Tower, and the majestic Golden Gate Bridge. Older brother Lincoln & Lucille Chan and family were on the top floor. Older sister Lotus & Bing Quock and family were on the lower floor.
Lawrence was married to Alice and had four children: Darlene, Cherrilynn, Curtis, and Lisa. His grandchildren are Dustin, Ashley, Jaylon, Joshua, and Ethan. Katheryn is his great-grandchild.
Lawrence received his AA degree from San Francisco City College. He served in the Naval Reserve post World War II and was stationed in Japan in the Armed Forces during the Korean War.
Lawrence worked for Social Security as a Personnel Staffing & Classification Specialist. Due to his military rankings/administrative background, he moved up the chain of command and aided many veterans in receiving their social security benefits. Later on his bilingual fluency in Cantonese and English assisted many Chinese-Americans to receive their social security benefits both here in the USA and those who chose to retire in China.
Lawrence was a former President for the Nam Hoy Nam Chew Association. He led many educational trips back to the Nam Hoy village in China and distributed scholarships to many high school students in the association. It was his dream to open up a Community Center in Nam Hoy on his family’s property.
Lawrence was also a long-time fan of the 49ers and lived to see them play from Kezar Stadium to Candlestick and win 5 super bowls. In the early years, Sunday football was a ritual of going to North Beach to pick up salami, focaccia bread, and beer to watch the game.
Last but not least, one of the most memorable gifts Lawrence shared with his loved ones was his culinary skills. Lawrence was an excellent chef and many will miss his special dishes. He made everything from Shark Fin Soup to Ginger & Scallion Crab with a yummy secret dipping sauce, Duck in this gravy with black mushrooms that would melt in your mouth, soups to cure the sick, and Preserved Sour Plums to quench those sour, crunchy cravings as your mouth would water. All will Miss his culinary delights.
Lawrence will be missed.
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