Chi-Chong(John) Fong, 84 years old, of Scarborough, ON(formerly Dartmouth, NS), passed away on August 19, 2023 at the Midland Gardens Seniors Apartment Retirement Residence.

Born in Kowloon, Hong Kong, he was raised in his paternal village of Hoi-Ping, in the Guangdong province of China. He spent his young adulthood in Hong Kong. In the 1960’s he immigrated to Canada. After a few years traveling around Canada, he brought his young wife(Yit-Hoo Kan) and two eldest children(Yeuk-Wah(Lisa) and Wai-Ming(Mike)) to Canada. They settled in Ottawa for a few years before settling in Dartmouth, NS. Nova Scotia best reminded him of his beloved homeland in China. He spent his latter years in the Toronto area prior to his passing.

The story goes that he was in fact headed to “Gold Mountain”(the States), but got stopped at customs in Toronto. He called a relative and was sponsored on the spot. Chasing the “North American Dream”, he and his former wife opened the Apple Restaurant in Dartmouth in the 1970’s, which closed in the mid 1980’s. Along the way, four more sons were born–Wai-Heung(Ivon), Wai-Kwong(Hubert), Wai-Yip(Jason), and Wai-Kwok(Tommy).

He spent most of his life working long hours for low wages as a cook in Chinese and a few non-Chinese restaurants. His life ethic was that he would make the hard sacrifices so that his kids would have a better future. He demanded perfection from his kids. He was very proud of how successful his children became in adulthood–teacher, surgeon, IT specialist, securities specialist, engineer/physician, and environmental economist. He was a proponent of “family first”. He made sacrifices so that the family would stay together despite many heartbreaking challenges. His father died in the war early in his childhood, so he spent his life struggling with fatherhood in a foreign land, having never had a role model.

He is best remembered for his amazing cooking abilities, most notable for his roast duck, lobster, homestyle Chinese dinners, and his bona fide bolognese sauce he learned from an Italian couple whose restaurant he worked at in Newfoundland. Ever inscrutable, he showed his affection in the food he fed you. He loved bakery goods and his children have fond memories of the Tim Horton’s honey crullers he would buy for them. He was famous for his gambling prowess, a trait he has passed down to some of his offspring. And he had this infectious laugh that broke through his strict persona. He loved to bring his young children swimming and fishing.

He is survived by his six children Yeuk-Wah Lisa(Alex), Wai-Ming Mike(Nancy), Wai-Heung Ivon(Deb), Wai-Kwong Hubert(Mary), Wai-Yip Jason(Nicole), and Wai-Kwok Tommy, and six grandchildren(Hannah, Katia, Nicholas, Nathan, Madison, and Sergei).

His funeral will be held on September 3, 2023 at 10 AM, with visitation starting at 9 AM, at Pine Hills Funeral Home, Scarborough, ON.