Shau Yip Dong, 91, was born in a village in Toisan, China.  Her name means “beautiful leaf” in Chinese.  She was 19 years old when she was arranged to be married to Suey Lin Dong, 21, who worked in a bakery.  On their wedding day, she was carried to the neighboring village to marry him; they had met just once and she was petrified, but she thought he looked kind.  Over the next seven decades of marriage, this would prove to be true, and she often spoke of what a good person he is.

In the early 1950s, the couple moved with their four daughters to Hong Kong.  Their son was born in Hong Kong in 1955.  In 1960, in search of a better life, Shau Yip flew across the world with her husband and three youngest children and moved into a three-room apartment in New York’s Chinatown.  She began working in a garment factory alongside her mother-in-law.

Shau Yip was a clever and talented seamstress, and quickly became known for her skill.  She could make a garment from any pattern, and after her two oldest daughters arrived from Hong Kong in 1969, she dressed them in handmade suits for their brand new office jobs.  She  loved beautiful clothes, and made her daughter Selena’s wedding gown.

Over the years, she and her husband worked hard and saved, bit by bit.  In 1980, they bought their first house in Flushing, Queens; every morning, they took the Q26 bus and the No. 7 subway train to the 6 train back to Canal Street in Chinatown to go to work; her at the garment factory, him at the fortune cookie factory.  After they retired, in 1992, they helped care for their two youngest grandchildren.  In 1997, they moved to Long Island.  Shau Yip was tremendously proud of her children and grandchildren and of the successful life she was able to help build for her family in America – “to make a beautiful something from nothing.”

Suey Lin describes Shau Yip, his wife of more than 70 years, like this:  “She loved people, and people loved her back.”  Her face would light up when she had visitors.  She especially adored chatting with her nieces, with whom she was very close.  She had many friends and would talk on the phone for hours.  When she went on errands in Chinatown, she would often run into people she knew on the street, and she’d have a glowing smile on her face for everyone of them.  She was a person who would hold your hand when she talked to you.

She loved chips, salty snacks, peanut brittle, and foong jow.  Even though her husband was the main cook in the household, she made a killer fried rice and expert chow mein.  Back in Chinatown, when she and Suey Lin had the occasional date-night outing to the live Chinese opera, she’d cook her specialty;  soy-sauce fried squab, one for each of her children to eat at home.  She was full of care and love, and often didn’t go to sleep until everybody got home, even in the most recent of days.  We love her with all our hearts, and hope that she is resting well now.

Shau Yip is survived by her husband, Suey Lin; their four daughters – Selena, Rosena, Shuet and Jan – and son, John, and his wife, May; six grandchildren, Andy, Stephen, Bonnie, Christopher, Justin and Kevin; and four great-grandchildren, Felix, Katherine, Teddy and Abigail.