Obituary of Mr. "Joseph" Chu Ken Lin 林祖根先生
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OBITUARY FOR JOSEPH CHU KEN LIN
(August 10, 1923 – July 30, 2019)
Joseph Chu Ken Lin (August 10, 1923 – July 30, 2019), well loved by his family, passed peacefully on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 at North York General Hospital, after suffering a short course of illness.
He was the beloved husband of Anne Chen Mo Chun and loving father of daughter, Betty (husband Guy), daughter, Ellen (husband Bill), son, Thompson (wife Vivian), and son, Peter (wife Glenda).
He was also the proud grandfather of Erin (husband Costas), Terry, Dennis (wife Selene), Karen (husband Dave), Justin (wife Wenya), Lauren (fiancé Abraham), Michael (wife Lily), Richard (fiancé Joo), as well as a doting great grandfather of Alexa, Ariadne, Benjamin, Henry, Eric, Jack and Aiden.
Joseph was born in Shanghai, China. He graduated as a mechanical engineer from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He had a charmed romance in Shanghai with his future wife, Chen Mo Chun. He left China before the Communist Party came into power in China.
As a young man, his life’s journey took him to the Subic Bay in Philippines where he was responsible for salvaging American military equipment left after the Second World War. Mo Chun joined him in Hong Kong just before the Communists closed the China/Hong Kong border, and the two were married in Hong Kong. After the birth of their first child, Betty, he brought his young family to Karachi, West Pakistan, to work in the cotton seed oil extraction industry. His family grew with the birth of Ellen and then Thompson. Those years brought cultural fascination and natural wonders into the hearts and minds of the young family. Locust storms, sand dunes, camels, lizards as common as house spiders, huge ants, snails and free roaming cows, provided much fascination for the children. In 1960, political unrest in Karachi forced him to quickly board the Queen Elizabeth II Ocean liner with his family to return to Hong Kong.
After returning to Hong Kong, he became the Chief engineer at Kader, a leading plastic toy manufacturing company there. Those years were challenging for him, as he worked tirelessly from morning till night every single day for the company. After a number of years with the company, ill health overtook him and he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. With much care from the doctors and his wife, he recovered and was blessed with good health ever since. While in Hong Kong, his youngest child Peter was born, and he was baptized as a Catholic.
Knowing that his children would eventually go abroad to further their education, he applied to immigrate to Canada during the Pierre Trudeau era, when Canada opened its doors to Asian immigrants. On July 28, 1970, his family of six arrived in Toronto.
After working as the Chief Engineer at Reliable Toy Company in Toronto for a number of years, he was forced to retire as a result of closure of the company. During his retirement, his life was full and productive. His zest for life was evident in his many hobbies: carpentry; Chinese calligraphy; Chinese painting; Chinese opera; photography; videography; landscaping; cycling; Tai Chi; etc., and in his tremendous interest in baby-sitting his grandchildren.
His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will miss him greatly, and their loving memories of him will live with them forever.
Visitation
Date: Sunday, August 11, 2019
Time: 3 to 7 PM (Prayer service by Fr. Joseph Chandrakanthan from 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Location: Ogden Funeral Home at 4164 Sheppard Avenue East (Midland/Sheppard)
Celebration of Life Mass
Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
Time: 10 AM
Location: Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church at 3 Combermere Drive,
(Victoria Park & Ellesmere across from Parkway Plaza)
Interment after Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
Time: 12 Noon
Location: Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery at 8361 Yonge Street
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in memory of Joseph Chu Ken Lin may be made to one or more of the following institutions:
North York General Hospital Foundation
4001 Leslie St.
North York, Ontario
M2K 1E1
Providence Healthcare Foundation
3276 St. Clair Ave. E.
Scarborough, Ontario
M1L 1W1
BREATHE: The Lung Association
18 Wynford Dr. Suite 401
Toronto, Ontario
M3C 0K8
