Henry Chiong Yee

Henry Chiong Yee was born on March 22,1943, in Madridejos, Cebu Philippines, one of seven children born to Lucio Yee Sr. and Mena Chiong. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Mapúa Institute of Technology and chose to follow many of his family members, emigrating to the United States in 1982 with his first wife and 2 children. Henry worked as an engineer at IDD Aerospace for 20+ years, then at Spacelabs for 5 years, and at Ocular Instruments until the time of his passing.

In 1992, Henry attended a Thanksgiving party to practice Christmas caroling, where he met the future love of his life, Nelia. Henry tried to serenade his way to her heart, and after 2 months, she finally gave in and gave him her phone number. They dated for 2 years and then married in 1994.

Henry had a vast community of friends and was a member of the Visayan Circle in Seattle for many years. He was a self-taught carpenter and was regularly found doing home improvement projects on his home. Despite not being able to read sheet music, Henry was also a self-taught piano player and loved to play for friends and family--especially his favorite song ‘My way’ by Frank Sinatra. In addition to playing the guitar, and dancing he also enjoyed traveling and especially taking long road trips. He made countless journeys to Chicago, California and even Alberta. He was nicknamed "the driver" by his friends because he would always be the chauffeur. Nothing brought him more joy than spending time with his friends and family, whether at home, at the casino, or the Shrimp Shack.

Henry passed away at home from lung cancer on April 7, 2023. He is survived by his wife, Nelia, children Elmer and Christie, stepdaughter Ailene, and his grandchildren, Isaiah, Isaac, and Logan. He will be deeply missed.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St. Jude Children's Hospital in Henry's name. He recently held a Facebook fundraiser for them on his 80th birthday. https://raise.stjude.org/henrycyee