Doris J. Eng's Obituary
Doris J. Eng November 1, 1927 to June 8, 2017
Mom was born in China in 廣東省 (Canton province)，台山縣( Toi Shan County)，四九鎮(4 9 Town)，大塘區(Tai Tong District)，蟠龍村 (Poon Loong Village). Her father’s name was 許大維 (Huie Tai Way. Her mother’s name was 伍秧娣(Ng/Eng Young Hai，
Mom was the youngest of three children. Her older sister was 許容芳(Huie Yong Fong) and her brother, 許汝能(Huie Yue Nung).Her Chinese name was 許容雁 (Huie Yong Ngan).
Her father wanted his children to be educated, even the girls. So Mom attended
大塘小學 (Tai Tong Elementary School) and 台山女子師範 (Toi Shan Girls Teachers Preparatory School) for junior high school. She said she excelled in math, which came in handy later when she and Dad ran a restaurant business and later rental property.
She developed her passion for growing fruits and vegetables at her home in China. Even to this day, her fruit trees at her Concord home continue to yield a bounty season after season. She loved to sing and dance, and also was skilled in sewing and artwork.
In September 1947, she married a Chinese American GI, our Dad, Don, and honeymooned in Hong Kong before setting sail for San Francisco.
Mom and Dad were met at the harbor in San Francisco by her father, our Gung Gung. That was the first time she met her father because he had sojourned to North America while our grandmother was pregnant with Mom. While Dad worked at the Shell gas station at Sacramento and Stockton, Mom set up their household. Thanks to other Engs from the village, Mom and Dad were able to borrow enough money to start a laundry business on Kearny Street. Ken was born in 1948; Ed in 1949. Hoping for a girl, Mom and Dad had to settle for a third son, Don Jr.
Around 1953, our family moved to 123 Bridgeview in the Bayview. Dad sold the laundry and bought a grocery store in the Mission, called Save Way Grocery. While Dad ran the laundry and grocery store, Mom worked as a seamstress for Koret on Mission Street. In 1959, we moved to Berkeley, where Dad had bought a Chinese American restaurant, Wing Kong. They sold the house in the Bayview for the outrageous price of $3000 and used the $1500 windfall as the down payment for our Berkeley home.
In 1963, they had an eight-unit apartment complex built at 2024 Vine. Mom still loved to garden, so she planted flowers and vegetables. She continued working at Koret, taking AC Transit to San Francisco every day.
When Mom got her driver’s license, and while Dad ran the restaurant, she drove us on family excursions to the Berkeley pier to fish, Tilden Park, to the Plunge in Richmond and even across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.
In 1966, Wing Kong was sold and Mom and Dad bought a coffee shop in Downtown Berkeley, naming it Town Square.
In 1975, Mom and Dad sold the restaurant and Dad retired. Mom went to work at Snow Lion, later named Snowline, making down jackets and sleeping bags. She did that for a couple of years, until they sold the apartment complex and moved to Concord where they started a new life as full time retirees. They loved the huge yard, where they grew fruit and vegetables and where Mom learned to swim in their own pool.
It was also in that same pool that Mom and Dad were baptized in 1980 after they came to know the Lord as their personal Savior the year before.
They took a cruise to Puerto Vallarta, travelled to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Hawaii, Yellowstone, Niagara Falls, Washington DC, Lake Louise, Montreal, and the Dakotas, where they saw “the four men” as she called them, otherwise known as Mount Rushmore.
They became active in their church and served until Dad was called home to his Savior in 1994. Mom continued attending until Alzheimer’s began taking its toll.
Mom and Dad really enjoyed their life in their cul-de-sac on Woodmoor Court in Concord. With their big back yard, they adopted Ling Ling, a Pomeranian that gave them years of joy.
In 2012, Mom began her stay at Golden Heritage Senior Living, an assisted living ministry (1275 North Fourth Street, San Jose, 95112), where she was lovingly cared for.
On the morning of June 8th, Mom passed peacefully in her sleep and woke up in her home in heaven in the presence of her Savior, Jesus.
Her family – sons Ken (Leslie), Ed (Eveline), Don (Gerri); grandchildren – Jessica, Michelle (Billy), Andrea (Brian), Eric, and Jennifer already miss Mom, but we celebrate and rejoice that while absent from the body, she is at home with the Lord. (2 Cor 5:8)
A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. at the Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Avenue, in Piedmont. A dinner will be held at 5:00 p.m. Hong Kong East Ocean Restaurant, 3199 Powell Street in Emeryville.
Donations may be made to The Ministry of Golden Heritage Senior Living where Mom spent the past 5 years being taken care of: 1275 North 4th Street San Jose, CA 95112
www.GoldenHeritage.net.
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