Jake & May (Brother & Sister in-spirit)

Entered June 6, 2016

We will miss you dearly Gary,
and we are at peace knowing you are now in good company.
You will live-on in our lives forever.

Our love and support to your family,
love Jake & May

Chan's Family (Kwok Kan Chan) (Cousins)

Entered June 7, 2016 from Coquitlam

You and your family are in our hearts and prayers. Our deepest condolences on the passing of your brother. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to you and your family during this difficult time. May the soul of Gary rest in peace.

From:
Aunty Irene Chan, William & Crystal, Alfred & Susanna, Arthur & Lolo

Sharon Katzberg Rosenzweig (Old neighbour)

Entered June 7, 2016 from Thornhill

My condolences to the entire Wong family on the loss of Gary.
XO Sharon Katzberg

Rob and Karen (Brother and sister in law)

Entered June 7, 2016 from Glen Williams, ontario

Gary- whether we are up north at the lake, at home in the Glen, or down in the Florida Keys, you will always be in our hearts
Truly a special gentle soul, be at peace

Love always

Dave Kaluza (Family)

Entered June 7, 2016 from Cambridge

Gary was a really great person and treated me like a brother. He gave up his house for me when I moved to Toronto and we played many of hockey games together.

The entire Wong family has lost such a wonderful person and I will be forever thankful and blessed for knowing Gary. Rest in peace my friend.

Love, Dave, Tika, Scott, Nika, Heather & Glenn Kaluza

The Gary I Will Remember

The Gary I will remember loved to be at the centre of things...
Was bigger than life wearing his various pop/rock ensembles;
Loved to party hardy at "Chez Wong's Disco Club";
Cheered on the Leafs every Saturday or whenever the CBC Hockey Night in Canada was on;
Guarded his precious goalie's net in the "Wong" shinny hockey league;
Was so inspired by Wayne Wong (Canadian Chinese freestyle skiing pioneer, circa 1974) and took up skiing;
When playing mah-jong, would often be heard muttering "Multi, multi, multi" after the tiles were dealt, indicating he had a multi-suited hand;
He (and we) loved his Christmas turkey jook (congee);
Loved his family, his solitude with good books and music;

... the Gary I will remember.

My brother Gary was a courageous man.

He was courageous when at age 11, he boarded the plane and travelled to Canada on his own, while Dad was in Campbellton and Mom stayed in Hong Kong to care for the rest of us. He was a courageous leader when he led the defense of our many snow forts during the Campbellton winters. It was with courage that he swaggered through the Engineering buildings at Waterloo in the 70's with his purple fringed jacket while everyone stood in awe or shock. He was courageous when he put on his goalie equipment to tend net, having never played hockey in his life. But nothing can compare with the courage he showed over the past 20 odd years as he lived with kidney failure, transplant and then lymphoma. In the final weeks, he continued to battle on until we told him it was okay for him to go home to see Dad, Grandfather and Grandma.

I have so many wonderful memories of growing up in this big family. So many great times and laughs we had with Gary leading the way. I could always tell something was up when he flashed his cheeky grin. It was a warning sign ... Uhoh! He's up to something... and the antics began!!! He was always conspiring with the brothers to do something at a party or banquet to make everyone laugh and liven things up. Gary would sit back with that great big smile as he watched his brothers at "work." The cousins or other unsuspecting victim would cringe or try to avoid the scheming brothers. I'm sure my mother rolled her eyes as she watched the scene unfold.

Gary certainly had "style" and his wardrobe reflected his outgoing personality. I remember him entering the house with this long white sheepskin and leather cowboy hat in the cold day of winters back in the day. In the summer he was well tanned and donned his fashionable aviator glasses (I won't talk about the yellow shorts!) When he transitioned into the workforce, he became "a sharp dressed man." He would come through the door donning one of many suits (sometimes a 3 piece suit) and I swear he had a tie for every workday in the month. I found a couple of bow ties amongst his collection of ties. I'm not sure if he ever wore one of them to work, but I wouldn't put it past him if he did. Just to make a fashion statement.

When the nieces and nephews came along, he never protested about being saddled with holding one of the kids at our busy family birthday parties or Christmas gatherings. He got a lot of joy watching the kids as they played or opened presents. And now and then you would find him teasing the kids. When the event ended, he would always be by the door sitting on the stairs waiting to say good bye and waiting to hug each kid. On one occasion, I remember leaving with the my kids one day and he got into an exchange with Christopher that kind of went like this:
Uncle Gary: "Skeletor"
Christopher: No, He-Man
Uncle Gary: "Skeletor"
Christopher: He-Man!
This lasted a few minutes... uncle Gary won. Chris' nickname was Skeletor.

These are just a few of my fond memories. Gary you will always be loved and forever in our hearts and dearly missed.

Anyone that has come to know Gary knows that he had a very strong personality and was never afraid to be unique and stand out from the crowd.

I still remember vividly, the first time I saw Gary, even though it was over 45 years ago. Gary's brother Sam was a high school friend of mine and had been hospitalized due to a motorcycle accident. I went to the hospital to visit Sam and this is where I remember meeting Gary for the first time.

Gary was in Sam's hospital room, and was extremely upset that Sam had been in an accident and was concerned that Sam had just undergone surgery on his leg, which had been crushed in the accident. Gary was wearing his purple suede jacket with the long swaying frills down his arms and back. On his face was a prominent large dark black moustache and his full head of hair flowed down over his shoulders. He also wore his red, white and blue boots which he had previously designed himself to be custom made.

This is my first and strongest memory of Gary, and I will miss him greatly.

He was my brother-in-law, the uncle to my children, my friend and will be remembered always.