Helen Chin's Obituary
What people always commented upon and will remember about Helen Chin are her generosity, fierceness, and enjoyment of bringing people together (frequently around a table filled with food). As the eldest daughter in her family, Helen took on the role of Bossy Sister with gusto. Those same traits allowed her to be ahead of her time professionally. During her career, she came to be known affectionately as The Dragon Lady.
To Helen’s family, her life is an example of how a love of family can overcome many obstacles and hardships, what hard work can provide, the importance of being organized, punctual, and practical, and the satisfaction gained from being able to send guests home with delicious leftovers.
Helen was born in Boston to Gong and Moy Shee Chin, immigrants from southern China’s Guangdong Province. Shortly after, her family moved to New York City’s Chinatown. She and her siblings Bill, George, Jean, Warren and Walter were raised in a small apartment, where they sometimes slept on the fire escape on hot nights, and made appointments to bathe at a nearby relative’s apartment, in the kitchen. Helen fondly remembered egg creams and engaging in scandalous thievery – plucking olives from the open barrels outside the markets in nearby Little Italy.
Helen’s family relocated to West Oakland, California when she was a young girl. It was a vibrant time to be in an area with a burgeoning Chinese American and immigrant community. This community ultimately introduced her to the love of her life, Wing Foo Chin, a handsome volleyball player and coach, in 1942. Marriage followed, then sons Thomas and Robert. Houses were rented, then purchased, grocery stores came and went in San Francisco. The family moved to Oakland in the early 1960s following the birth of daughter Pamela. Their second daughter, Diane, arrived shortly after the move.
Helen and Wing celebrated the marriages of their children, Tom to Elvie, Bob to Jean, Pam to Mark and Diane to Gil, and the arrival of their grandchildren (Rachel, Becky, Pam, Steven, and David), great grandson (Nathaniel) and step grandchildren (Jason and Jordan).
Helen had a successful career when young Chinese American women were not found in many professions. She excelled particularly in various positions at Stat Tab in San Francisco, becoming Director of Operations, and later headed up its Los Angeles office. In the late 1970s, Helen and Wing retired. They traveled, frequently by train or driving one of Wing’s old Cadillacs, seeing friends and family throughout the country, and, often with other family members, visited China.
Helen’s beloved husband Wing passed away in 2006. After that, she continued to travel and enjoy her family. She played mah jong tournaments with friends and family and took gambling trips to Reno and Las Vegas as well as locally. In 2009, she took family members for an extended trip to China, in honor of Steven’s high school graduation. It was a highlight of the last years. In 2010, she returned to New York for the first time in decades, showing Becky, Diane and Gil her old Chinatown haunts, and remarking about the loss of cobblestone streets. She took the train to see Pam and Mark in Los Angeles and traveled to Seattle to visit with Bob and Jean, joined by Wong Family relatives from Vancouver. Helen delighted in hosting family gatherings at Chinese New Year and Christmas, as well as sharing meals at the old Silver Dragon Restaurant, Bay Fung Tong, Fenton’s Ice Creamery, Gold Medal, and The Fat Lady. Her eyes twinkled the last years when she made shark fin soup for special birthdays or the new year out of contraband secreted away in her freezer.
The last two years of Helen’s life, she battled lung cancer and other ailments, prevailing in many of those battles, thanks to an amazing medical team, care taking by family and friends, and her own stubbornness and tenacity. Helen died peacefully at home, surrounded by family members who love her, just as she wanted it to be. She showed courage and strength until the very end.
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