Cheuk Chau Lee passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, January 9, 2024. He was 91 years old. He will be dearly missed by his loving family; devoted wife of 61 years, May Kam Lee (nee Chan), daughters, Krista (Alfred) Ng, and Yin (Donald) Wong, sons, Jim (Anne Marie) Lee, and Frank (Annie) Lee, and grandchildren, Melanie (Michael Borsk) Ng, Chelsea Ng, Colin Lee, and Justin Lee. He was predeceased by his father, Hok Mao Lee, mother Yeung Ho Lee (nee Lau), and elder brother, James Cheuk Wah Lee.

Cheuk Chau was born and educated in Toishan, China. He left his rural village for Hong Kong in his late teens where he became an elementary school teacher. It was there he met and then married a “beautiful” fellow teacher, his beloved wife, May Kam in 1962. After his two daughters were born, he went on to open and become the superintendent of a new school. With the popularity of wigs as a fashion trend at its height in the late 1960s, he left teaching to manage a wig-manufacturing business, seeing this move as a possibility for economic prosperity for his growing family, as his third child was on the way. Hoping to open doors to new and better opportunities for his children’s futures, he immigrated to Canada in 1970, opening a wig manufacturing business in Toronto. His family joined him a year later, settling first in Toronto, then moving to Markham in 1981. After the birth of his fourth child, he made a career change and started up his own construction company. His honesty, friendliness, and skill contributed to his successful business through which he made many lifelong connections who continued to call on him well into his retirement.

Cheuk Chau was the eternal optimist. He chuckled at adversities, choosing to appreciate the good things in life rather than dwell on the bad. He had a generous and caring spirit, greeting friends and strangers alike with a warm smile and a wave of his hand. Cheuk Chau’s passion was his family. He enjoyed dinners with them at his home every Saturday evening, followed by watching the Maple Leaf hockey games on television. He loved traveling as a big family unit to different places in Canada, the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia, as well as camping in the wilderness. He equally appreciated simple pleasures such as walks with his wife, and going for morning dim sum and afternoon coffee at McDonald’s. In reflection, he had expressed many times that he had a good, lucky life.

With hard work, careful financial management, and wise investments in real estate, Cheuk Chau, together with his wife, secured a wonderful life for themselves and their four children. His life is indeed a shining example of the successful immigrant’s story.

We will miss him dearly.

Expressions of sympathy may be made through a donation in Cheuk Chau’s memory to the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, the St. Michael’s Foundation, or the SickKid’s Foundation.