Wynne Fung

Wynne Fung, 99.88 years old, passed away gracefully on October 13, 2021. Wynne lived a full century across two continents. She survived the great depression, World War II, the financial meltdown, Covid-19, and a recent wildfire in Lucas Valley, Marin very close to where she lived.

Her grandfather, a banker and commodore, was sent from China to work in Japan. He had four wives. Wife number two was Wynne’s grandmother, Tai Pao, who gave birth to Wynne’s mother, Linda, and raised all of Linda’s children. Wynne was born in 1921 in Kobe, Japan, the eldest of six children and spent her first nine years there. An idyllic life, she fondly remembered learning to swim in the ocean with brothers Tommy and Lucky, each of them tied with a rope that Tai Pao held onto from the beach.

Her family had five servants. “Even the dog had a servant,” according to Wynne. Her family moved to Hong Kong in 1930 so the children could get a better English education. Wynne attended a Catholic school called Holy Spirit, Mary Knoll Sisters, which led her to later becoming a devout Catholic in 1986.

In 1940, Wynne was 19, and a high school senior in Hong Kong. Then the war arrived, as Japanese forces invaded and occupied Hong Kong. The family fled to Macau, where they spent an uncertain and precarious four years.

After Pearl Harbor, her school closed in December 1941, so Wynne wasn't able to finish high school. More troubling, after the war ended in 1945, British forces appropriated their flat in Hong Kong. Linda instructed Wynne to take a small boat, on her own, from Macau to Hong Kong to see the head of the British RAF. She went across, found the RAF, and firmly requested that they release their flat back to her family, which they did. These were lifelong Wynne traits: tenacity, resolve, and courage. And when you asked Wynne her opinion of something, she would politely let you know in no uncertain terms.

In 1951 she was introduced by friends across the Pacific, via mail, to U.S. citizen Paul Fung. They became pen pals and eventually met in Japan to get married. Getting to the United States was more arduous. Six months of immigration forms later, in July 1952 she flew Pan Am to San Francisco to meet her new husband, Paul.

Well, not exactly. Signals crossed, there was no one there to meet her at the San Francisco airport. Knowing no one else, she instructed a cab driver to take her to the SF YWCA, where she had worked in the Hong Kong chapter. She called Paul from there and was picked up. She said later that was the coldest summer she ever experienced and had to buy a warm wool coat. Haha, welcome to San Francisco, Wynne.

Wynne’s life in Hong Kong did little to prepare her for the United States. She said that she had to learn to do everything: shop, cook, clean, and take care of the house and later, children. She imagined that she would attend San Francisco parties and socialize as a dutiful wife. So, before leaving Hong Kong, she had over three dozen Chinese Cheongsam dresses made and had them shipped to SF in a Lane cedar chest. These beautiful silk and lace works of art are still available to wear today.

In 1957, she took her US citizenship test. The examiner was extremely impressed with her language skills and asked where she learned such good English. Wynne answered simply, “my English school in Hong Kong, under the rule of Britain.” The examiner passed her without even giving her the test. Wynne was now a U.S. citizen!

Wynne was appreciative, thankful, and never complained. She was independent and never wanted to burden anyone. Never bitter. Almost never criticized anyone. She spoke Cantonese and English, read and wrote Chinese calligraphy, and polished her Japanese from watching TV. Her favorite color was purple; favorite stores, Trader Joes and Ranch 99; favorite TV shows, Chinese and Japanese soap operas, and later, cooking shows and jewelry sales. Her favorite foods? Sashimi, sushi, almost anything Japanese, which she would always say was less greasy than Chinese food. And most noodle dishes regardless of culture.

She is survived by daughter Marian Jung and son-in law, Patrick Ritter, and son Gary Fung; grandchildren, Courtney Jung and husband, Connor Lennan, Nick Jung, and fiancé, Orelia Rhodes (and daughter, Gianna) and Kianna Carlson-Fung; niece and nephew Gail Tsukiyama and Tom Tsukiyama, whom she was a second mother to. She is also survived by five nephews and two nieces from her two brothers, seven grand nieces and nephews, and most recently, one-year-old grandniece, Isabel.

The oldest in her family, Wynne lived the longest, just shy of one hundred years. She was preceded in death by brothers Tommy, George and Lucky, and sister, Grace. The only remaining member of her generation is her sister-in- law, Leatrice, who is 100 and still sharp as a tack.

Wynne’s last days were a blessing. She felt no pain and slept peacefully most of the time. She often drifted back to the days of her youth in Hong Kong, or reminisced about her mother Linda, known by all as Grandma Linda, who was the universally loved party girl who enjoyed food tremendously and played Mahjong up until the day before she died. When asked where she wanted her ashes to be interred, either next to her husband Paul, or next to Grandma Linda, she replied, “Well, I have more to talk about with Grandma Linda, so I think she would be better.”

Which is where she will rest, next to Linda at Sunset View Cemetery, in El Cerrito, on a hill looking out toward the San Francisco Bay, where she flew in from Hong Kong on that day long ago.

Rest in peace, Wynne. We will always love you and remember you.

Bye bye, and say hello to Grandma Linda for us.