Obituary of Mrs. Mo Chun (Anne) Lin

Mo Chun Lin (June 11, 1928 – May 03, 2020), well loved by her family, passed peacefully on Sunday, May 03, 2020 at her home, after suffering a stroke leading to a gentle passing of her soul into heaven. She was the beloved wife of late Joseph Chu Ken Lin and loving mother of daughter, Betty (husband Guy), daughter, Ellen (husband Bill), son, Thompson (wife Vivian), and son, Peter (wife Glenda). She was also the loving Grandmother of Erin (husband Costas), Terry, Dennis (wife Selene), Karen (husband Dave), Justin (wife Wenya), Lauren (husband Abraham), Michael (wife Lily), Richard (fiancé Joo), as well as a doting Great Grandmother of Alexa, Ariadne, Benjamin, Henry, Eric, Jack, Aiden and future Baby Lin. Chen Mo Chun was born in Shanghai, China on June 11, 1928. She was the beloved daughter of Chen Cho Joy Hing and Choi Muy Sun and a younger sister to two brothers. She grew up in a family of great love and generosity as she often recounted how her parents would never refuse anyone to share an abundance of food at their table. After a loving romance with Chu Ken Lin, she joined him in Hong Kong just before the Communists closed the China/Hong Kong border. Her father accompanied her to Hong Kong and with the blessings of her parents the two were married on May 18, 1950. After the birth of their first child, Betty, in 1951, she was again uprooted when her husband brought the young family to Karachi, West Pakistan where he worked in the cotton seed oil extraction industry as Chief Engineer. The family grew with the birth of daughter, Ellen in 1952, and her elder son, Thompson, four years later. Mo Chun’s patient adaptability and resilience to life’s challenges were most commendable when every decade or so she was thrusted in a different culture and way of life: from the shock of the foreign culture of Karachi, to Hong Kong where she was challenged by yet another way of life and raising her children when the family was forced to leave Karachi and return to Hong Kong due to political unrest in 1960. While in Hong Kong, in May of 1963, her last child, Peter, was born. Then a decade later on July 28, 1970, the family immigrated to Canada where the entire family enjoyed a more stable life in Toronto for 5 decades to date. The relocation of Mo Chun and her family led her to embrace her faith and trust in God through the Catholic Church. She was baptized at St. Teresa Church at 258 Prince Edward Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Her baptismal intentions were realized through the years that her family remains unified and not separated by distance or location, and that her children would thrive and be successful in life. Her family was also brought into the Catholic faith. Mo Chun was a dutiful wife who learned to be frugal in her ways to make ends meet earlier on in her married life. Throughout her life she continued to be conscientious in her motto to “waste not, want not”. Her love and respect for Chu Ken’s role as a sole breadwinner was reflected in her careful use of resources to not only feed her family but also to send monetary assistance to the relatives in Shanghai. Her creative skills in knitting and sewing had clothed her family in one-of-a-kind originals from sweaters, vests and dresses to handmade pyjamas for the family. Her culinary delights were scrumptiously delectable and we still crave for some of the traditions she initiated…tea eggs, kofu, steamed minced pork with egg, green and red bean soup, and her kok kok chui are to die for. She was a mother who guided her children with strict discipline towards achieving well in all aspects of life. Her never ending goal was to raise her children to be independent, well educated with a lasting career. In the early years in Hong Kong, she would endure long line ups for registration into Catholic schools that excelled in their program. As a result we were enrolled in St. Mary’s Canossian Catholic School, Maryknoll Convent School, Diocesan Boy’s School and St. Teresa Catholic School for our formative years. She would encourage us to pursue a higher education in University of Toronto leading us to successful professions as a teacher, a pharmacist, an engineer and a doctor. Her faith and resilience saw her through many life challenges of nursing her husband back to health when he contracted Tuberculosis in Hong Kong, our childhood sicknesses and mishaps and the death of her loved ones in Shanghai as well as the death of her husband in 2019. In later years, after her fall in 2012 when she broke her arm, she accepted with great humility and patience the care that her family could provide for her. Her husband learned to prepare food, cook it and serve her everyday till his death on July 30, 2019. With some personal support workers’ and daily family support, Mom was able to spend her days in peace enjoying her privilege at the Toronto Public Library borrowing DVDs of Chinese drama series and Chinese edition of books ranging from romance to politics to satisfy her voracious appetite to read. Mo Chun endured the affliction of her body as she suffered a stroke a week and a half before her death. She deteriorated very quickly amidst the loving care of her family. With prayers and good wishes surrounding her, she let her last breath leave her body and gently died as if in her sleep…her prayer for a “peaceful death” every day since her husband’s death. She is now reunited with Dad in eternal bliss watching over all of us. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will miss her immensely, and their loving memories of her will live with them forever.