She was born on Hainan island off the coast of China on March 26, 1930 to Ming Fen Ho and Chi Hing Chan. She was the eldest sister to Anthony (Tak Ching), Margaret (Richard), Teresa (Joseph) and Joseph.
Theresa studied and embarked on a nursing career as a young adult. It was one of her proudest accomplishments. In 1949 Theresa gave up her career and married Martin Man Tim Wong (deceased 1979), only son of Shing Gee Wong and Kwun Foon Lung in Hong Kong where they started a family of eight children. Hong Kong life did not suit her – she didn’t fit into the woman’s lifestyle of those days of lunching, clothing and jewelry.
The Wongs left a very happy and successful life in Hong Kong and began a completely new life in Toronto, Canada in 1967 to provide educational opportunities for their children. The “tradition” of sending one’s kids abroad to University did not fit in with their vision of keeping a family together. What could motivate the parents to do this but the unconditional love of the family. With Martin’s passing away 42 years ago, Theresa was the strength, force and love that the carried this family all these years.
Theresa was the matriarch of a very large, extended family. She was an incredible mother to 8 children: Joseph, John (Patricia), Jude, James (Susan), Margaret (Michael), Martha (Peter), Paul (Valerie) and Wilfred. She was a loving grandmother to 9 grandchildren: Jennifer (Steve), Christopher (Cindy), Kathleen, Lindsay, Mary Theresa (Russ), Martin, Stephanie, Casey and Alexander. And a Great-grandmother to Caiden and Layla. She was an Aunt to many nieces, nephews, their spouses and children. She was very proud of and loved everyone in her extended family.
Theresa was a loving mother with an enormous, generous heart. She was a spiritual, open-minded Catholic. She loved sharing memories from her life and came to be a traditional and non-traditional person at the same time. She was a stay-at-home mother devoted to raising her family and her extended family, always involved and caring right until the end of her life. She welcomed and accepted everyone into her home over all the years and made special connections with many. She was creative and artistic and had an interest later on in her life in flower arrangements, Chinese painting and calligraphy. Theresa most enjoyed her garden. She was a master gardener and loved her flowers especially her orchids and her prized peony bushes and magnolia tree.
Theresa and her family loved family celebrations in her home. After much too-enormous feasts (“… you’re too skinny…” meant you had better eat through the pain of being stuffed ...), she was happiest sitting on her living room perch during large family gatherings, chuckling to herself while taking in the insanity, idiocy, and intimacy of the family, and revelling in the wonderful and diverse family which she created and nurtured. Though her eyesight had deteriorated with age, everyone seems to recall getting surprisingly caught out by her eagle eye doing something oblivious to the rest of the commotion.
She will be best remembered as an intelligent, humorous, loving, woman of incredible strength and courage. She will be missed by everyone that was blessed to know her. The thread that binds this memorial of Theresa together were her characteristics of strength, toughness and strong-will coupled with equally and exponentially greater characteristics of generosity, patience, warmth and open, full unconditional love that she had for her entire family, friends and this world. She will live on in each of those she has touched.
In lieu of donations and flowers, the family asks, if you wish, that you perform an act of kindness to reflect the love and generosity that Theresa Wai-King Wong did her entire life.
A private funeral service will be held for the immediate family and a celebration of life will be planned for a future date.
Due to the current pandemic restrictions, attendance at the visitation and the funeral mass is by invitation only. You are welcome to witness the funeral mass by going to the church's YouTube page on the internet. Link below.
Live Stream Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcWVXq1r9YqmDDtfP_7-bDg
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