Aimee Fong

Aimee Fong (nee Chin) was born on April 7, 1930, the fourth of six children born to Hai (AKA Wai Ming) Chin and Fung Lum Lee. She was born and raised in San Francisco. She went to Jean Parker Elementary, Francisco Junior High, Galileo High (where she was one of only four California Scholarship Federation Life Members) and SF City College (1 year). Although they didn’t realize it then, she and her future husband were in the same graduating class at Francisco Junior High.

She also attended Chinese school after American school and enjoyed goofing off with her friends. A few of these friends (Fannie, Pinkie and Amy) became her best friends throughout her life. She was the most reserved and studious one, while her friends were more outgoing and liked to drink and play cards. Their differences didn’t matter as they enjoyed each others’ company and sharing time with their families.

When she was young, one of her first jobs was shelling shrimp for a restaurant. She told us her hands and clothes would smell of briny shrimp afterwards. As a young adult, she took a long Greyhound bus tour with her sister Ann. They traveled all over the US, including the Deep South. It was adventurous (some would say a bit foolhardy) for two young, Chinese sisters to travel alone in those days. In the Deep South, her sister recalled that they were uncertain whether to drink from a water fountain for “Whites” or “Non-Whites” until a lady told them they were white. They enjoyed a few other bus trips together, including one with her young nephews that stopped in numerous California towns en route to Los Angeles.

Ainee worked for the City Health Dept. for some years before she met Pierce Fong. They double and triple dated with friends for several months with the boys wining and dining their girlfriends every week. The girls kind of assumed their boyfriends were made of money and enjoyed the attention but were a bit embarrassed about taking them for granted later. When asked about how Pierce proposed to her, she recalled he just said, “Maybe we should start making plans.” She married Pierce on September 20, 1959. They honeymooned in Monterey and Carmel before settling into a home in the Sunset District on 17th Avenue near Santiago Street in SF. Together, they raised their son Everett and daughter April at that home. Aimee enjoyed being a housewife and taking care of her kids. She learned to cook from various recipes, eventually becoming a very good chef. Every weekend, they would have dinner at her parents’ house with many local family members. They also would have dinner with Pierce’s mother and his local family members. Every holiday was celebrated with lots of family, including some traditional Chinese holidays. There were always ceremonial foods for Chinese New Year where her parents would place traditional foods symbolizing long life, prosperity, good fortune, etc. on top of a red tablecloth with beautifully embroidered gold patterns.

When the Hunters Point Shipyard where Pierce worked closed down, they moved to Northridge in Southern California in 1972. They felt the city was getting too crowded and they thought living in a larger house in a suburban neighborhood would be good for the family. In 1973, Aimee returned to work as a word processing specialist at Windsor Publishing and later as an administrative assistant at the VA Hospital. The family thrived in Northridge. They made many close friends and got together with many of their Southern California relatives and friends. Relatives from the Bay Area often came to visit as well. During their years in Northridge, the family enjoyed going to all of the local theme parks, took a 10 day island hopping trip to Hawaii, ventured into Tijuana and Ensenada once and took a trip to Las Vegas with Pierce’s mother.

Eventually, they decided to move to Belmont, CA in the SF Bay Area in 1978 to be closer to the majority of their family and old friends. Belmont was a quaint city with a small town atmosphere back then, but still only 30 minutes from SF. Aimee resumed working as an administrative assistant at the Social Security Office in San Mateo, then the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, eventually ending her career working for the Postmaster General in Millbrae. She retired at age 59 in 1989. By this time, her children had moved away and started their own careers.

With her children grown, she and Pierce took numerous trips around the US, Alaska, Canada, Europe and Asia. She was very meticulous in researching, taking notes and clipping articles for where they would be traveling. She enjoyed seeing many of the national parks and wildlife, the entertainment in Branson, Missouri, seeing the fall foliage on the East Coast and meeting other senior couples in their tour groups. They also took many group bus trips to Reno, where she enjoyed playing the slot machines, eating at the buffets and seeing a few shows.

She loved watching her grandsons grow up. She and Pierce would often visit April in Portland, Oregon and Everett and his family in Rolling Hills Estates in Southern California. They typically drove to visit them at least a few times each year. Over the years, she enjoyed trips to Legoland, Disneyland, Alcatraz, Monterey/Carmel, the California Academy of Sciences to celebrate April’s 50th birthday, Alcatraz for her 75th birthday and a 4 day Fong family cruise from LA to Catalina Island, San Diego and Ensenada with Everett, Linda and her two grandsons.

In later years, they needed more assistance so she and Pierce moved to Rancho Palos Verdes in November 2019. They lived in a nice assisted living apartment near her son Everett and his family, with frequent visits from her daughter April. They would go out for short excursions every weekend with Everett and Linda. Unfortunately, after the pandemic began in March 2020, they were isolated for their protection for about 4-5 months. They eventually were allowed to leave with family members but not have guests visit them.

As her health steadily declined over the next 3 years, she became less mobile and slept increasingly more. She did maintain her sense of humor, had a good appetite and was still coherent, despite some mild dementia. She and Pierce enjoyed some Zoom calls with her sister Ann and other relatives, which helped them keep in touch with family.

After Pierce passed away on June 22, 2022, she needed more care and went into a skilled nursing apartment within the same retirement community. She commented that the place was a “cut above” most and that she didn’t really need that nice a place. She was concerned about the costs and was still trying to be practical. Nonetheless, we assured her that she could afford to stay there. We enjoyed visiting her often and had conversations with her whenever she was up for it. She eventually became bedridden and grew very weak before passing away peacefully on December 11, 2022 in Rancho Palos Verdes, with her family close by. She was 92 years old.

Personal Life

Aimee’s hobbies were doing crossword puzzles, playing mahjong with friends, monthly get-togethers with family friends, enjoying holiday gatherings with family and going on occasional group gambling trips to Reno by bus. She also liked to shop at the Grocery Outlet and Dollar Tree. Her favorite foods were a good hamburger and pasta, although she enjoyed many foods. She was a very dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and sister and always was interested in others’ well being. She had a good sense of humor and loved puns. She would clip articles to save for her kids to read and worried about them more when they visited than when they were away.

Aimee is survived by her sister Annabelle Young, son Everett, daughter April Ann, daughter in-law Linda and grandsons Russell and Curtis Fong. She was predeceased by her husband Pierce and her siblings Alice Jan/Lai, David Chin, Elsita (Elsie) Chin and Elbert Chin.