Kim Po Chai Choo, age 97, passed away peacefully on Sunday March 21, 2021 with family at her side. She is predeceased by her husband Bing in 1972, son Gee in 2013 and stepdaughter Pearl in 2017 (Bob in 2009). Loving mother to daughters, Lily (Dan Gordaneer) and Sally. Adored Popo to grandchildren Stefanie (Conor) and Michael (Shelby) as well as step-grandchildren (although she never considered them ‘steps’) Sze (Harvey), Rose (Lucio), Sam (Doris), John (Nancy), Leroy (Sharon) and many great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. Cherished aunt to nephews Kuang Sheng Kan (Kit Fong), Quang Hui Gan (Gui Zheng Ru), Guang Cheng Gan (Ki Chan) and niece Ai Hua Gan (Jin Zhou Cao) and many great nephews and nieces and great great nephews and nieces. She will be dearly missed by the Gordaneer/Hogan families who she considered part of her family.

Kim was born in a village in Guangzhou in 1924. Being a girl, she did not have the privilege of going to school but learned many life lessons working in the fields and dealing with the conflicts faced during the war years. She immigrated to Canada in 1955 and helped to support her family by cooking meals and doing laundry for boarders, working as a cleaning lady and doing piecework beading. She eventually convinced someone at U of T to hire her as a dishwasher in their cafeteria even though she did not have the reading or writing skills to complete an application. She worked long and hard, walking to and from work twice a day so she could prepare meals for her family between the lunch and dinner shifts at U of T. She loved her work. Due to her strong work ethic, she was hired in the housekeeping department for the summers when the cafeteria was closed and she would normally have been laid off.

She was a proud Canadian citizen and was very thankful for the opportunities available here for those willing to work hard. In 2007, she returned to China and Hong Kong to visit the sisters and many nephews and nieces that she left behind over 50 years earlier. The memories are priceless. Another highlight was her trip to Ottawa to recover the head tax paid by her husband when he immigrated to Canada in 1912.

Life was not easy for her but you would never know it from her always cheerful and positive disposition. She had many friends and seemed to know people wherever she went. After she retired, she was busy...tending her vegetable garden, meeting friends for lunch almost everyday, having lunch or dinner with special needs daughter, Sally, twice a week, babysitting grandchildren when needed or just dropping in unexpectedly to say hello and of course, bargain shopping (most of which she generously gave away to family and friends). Even after she broke her hip and underwent a hip replacement in her early 90’s, she continued her active social life by taking the WheelTrans to get around the city. Finally, her spine gave out and she had to enter long term care in 2018. There, she made many friends and participated in many of the activities until covid sadly locked everything down. She survived covid but could not survive the isolation that came with it.

Kim touched many lives and will be deeply missed by her family, friends, neighbours and even casual acquaintances who she encountered in her daily adventures.

Special thanks to the staff at Fudger House for their compassionate care especially during these last months.

Private family funeral to be held at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.