George Kun Wai Wong's Obituary
George Kun Wai Wong, loving father, devoted husband, caring son, and passionate attorney-at-law, passed away on Thursday, April 2, 2015. He was with his wife and two children by his side and had courageously battled pancreatic cancer for 11 months.
George was born on September 4, 1950 in Ba Town, Fiji where his entrepreneurial father, Wong Chow Kit, and mother, Wong Lum Yuk Ming, operated a general store and other businesses. Following his father’s early passing, George and his six siblings were raised by their compassionate and hard-working mother.
While growing up in Fiji, George enjoyed school, making and selling kites for kite fighting contests, lifting weights, and minding the family store. As a child, he would play competitive marbles with friends, watch movies at the local cinema, and play in the sugar cane fields. He attended Catholic elementary and high schools in Ba. In high school, he led the debate team to national prominence. His visionary mother compelled George and his siblings to seek out their education and futures in the United States. Following his immigration to the United States, he attended the University of California, Berkeley. There in chemistry lab George met his beautiful and caring wife, Cecilia, and the two quickly fell in love. Over the wonderful years they shared together, George and Cecilia traveled the world, enjoying cuisines and cultures across the globe.
George graduated from the University of San Francisco Law School. He then joined the City & County of San Francisco’s City Attorney’s Office where he quickly rose to become the head construction attorney, a position he held for nearly 34 years until his retirement in 2011. There, his legal expertise, sharp mind, and unfaltering commitment to public service ably protected billions of public dollars that San Franciscans invested in their public buildings, facilities, and infrastructure. Although George held contractors accountable, he was highly respected by them due to his fairness and integrity. He represented San Francisco’s interests in some of the toughest legal conflicts the city has ever faced. He played a key role in the contracts that led to the design and construction of San Francisco’s libraries, museums, courthouses, jails, schools, public office buildings, light rail, San Francisco International Airport, and even San Francisco City Hall. He inspired and mentored generations of construction attorneys and engineers.
Following his retirement from civil service, he worked at PGH Wong Engineering, Inc. as their General Counsel and consulted on multi-billion dollar public works projects such as the California High Speed Rail Project and the BART Extension to San Jose. Even during the last days of his life when his health was deteriorating, he was still providing legal advice to his colleagues on the Honolulu Rapid Transit Project. He also taught construction law at Golden Gate Law School.
Through 43 loving years of marriage, George and Cecilia raised two wonderful daughters, Caroline and Clarissa. They also have a recently born granddaughter, Sue, who George had an opportunity to hold before he passed. George enjoyed a very special relationship with his two daughters and he spoke often of how proud he was of them. Caroline is an industry expert in computer and internet security, and Clarissa is a physician, currently training to specialize in pediatrics. Words cannot express the closeness and love that George had with his girls and wife. He was the first person each of them would turn to for any kind of advice, for a shoulder to lean on, or to share and celebrate happy news. He spent every minute he could with his family, never missing a single musical concert or sports competition. On any given weekend, he could be found walking the West Portal neighborhood with his friends or spending time with his large extended family who love him dearly.
George is survived by his loving wife Cecilia, daughters Caroline and Clarissa, grand-daughter Sue, son-in-law Wayne Robbins IV, future son-in-law Sebastian Fernandez-Pol, sisters Alice, Josephine, and Agnes, brothers Peter, Edward, and Robert, nephews, and nieces.
Evening visitation will be held on Sunday, April 12, 2015 from 4 – 6 pm. Funeral service and burial will be held on Monday, April 13, 2015 at 11 am with reception to follow. Location: Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, California.
If you would like to send your condolences please feel free to send flowers to the Chapel of the Chimes by 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 12, 2015. Also feel free to donate to the Lustgarten Foundation in honor of George, an organization which uses all donations for pancreatic cancer research.
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