Lee Yu Chu was born on September 12, 1917, in Kim Bo village, Guangdong, China to Lee Kar Leung and Lui Shiu Kiu. Born to wealthy parents, she was not expected to work as a child—but work she did, all of her long life. She had grown up speaking Taishanese (a Cantonese dialect), but had to learn Shanghainese to survive Japan’s violent occupation of Shanghai. She attended only a few years of school. She had only recently learned to cook a pot of rice and clean a house when she married Liu Hung Yiu on October 14, 1937. They had two children: daughter Tui Hong and son Calvin Lam. After less than seven years of marriage, her husband passed away, leaving her a 26-year-old widow with two small children. With the help of her husband’s extended family, especially his three nephews, she worked hard to raise her children. She gained the respect of those around her by helping people and always making sure the traditional customs were being followed. Her beautiful daughter Tui married Lee Hen Dock in 1961. Later that year, Tui passed away. Yu worked as a manager at a small toy-manufacturing company in Hong Kong before immigrating to the United States in 1971, at age 54. She lived in L.A.’s Chinatown and worked in a restaurant, memorizing the menu even though she didn’t know English. After her mother’s death in 1982, she moved in with her son’s family in Provo, Utah. She didn’t like Utah’s colder weather and felt more isolated because fewer people could speak Cantonese to her. She was a petite, feisty woman who expected to be listened to. She loved to go for walks, send aerograms to her family and friends, wear many layers of clothing, and give advice about saving money, dressing warmly, and following traditional customs. Lee Yu Chu passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 9, 2020, at age 103. She had been a widow for 76 years. She is survived by her son Calvin (Sui); grandkids Loren (April), Laura (Mark), Lorie, Leland (Lacie); and great-grandkids Anna, Edison, Schafer, Gavin, Charlotte, Evelyn, and Fenton.
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994 6935 2824