Steven Lee Chin

Steven Lee passed away peacefully on October 3, 2022. He was born in Taishan, Guandong, China, on August 18, 1928. He immigrated to the United States on May 19, 1947. He was drafted by the U.S. Army, to serve in the Korean War, in March of 1951 and was honorably discharged at the end of December 1952, as a corporal. He met his future wife, Betty, in 1960 and a year later, they were married in July of 1961. He worked at Chin’s Garden Restaurant, in San Pedro, for over 30 years, first as a cook, then later as a waiter. After retiring, he enjoyed taking cruises with his wife and friends. He loved watching the Dodgers and the Lakers play on the television, usually until the last out and to the final buzzer. One of his passions was helping others, especially those that immigrated to the U.S., here to San Pedro. Another passion was cooking for his family, especially during Thanksgiving. He would start early in the morning cooking the turkey and all the fixings, with leftovers for all of us to take home to eat for days! He was proud of each of his children, but what brought him more joy was being able to watch his five grandchildren grow up. Instead of asking about them as a group, he would always ask about them individually and how each one of them are doing. Lastly, whenever our dad had a special treat for us when we were younger, he would say in his somewhat broken English, “I have some goo-dy goo-dy for you”. He continued that tradition with his grandkids! Daddy, thank you for being our “goo-dy goo-dy”! We will miss and always love you!

Steven is survived by his wife Betty, his son Roland (Julie), his daughters Juliann and Joann (Tom), his grandchildren Derek, Amanda, Rebecca, Jamie and Tommy