George Wong

George, the eldest of seven siblings, was particularly proud of helping his father train horses at the International Race Club in Tientsin. His dad not only trained the horses, was a winning jockey, and ran the racecourse. George would briefly follow in his dad’s footsteps, riding in a few races himself.

However, George would answer the call to join China’s resistance to the Japanese invasion in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 that became part of the wider Second World War. He was inspired by the exploits of Chennault’s Flying Tigers to leave occupied Tientsin and travel across enemy lines in a dramatic journey to the wartime capital in Chongqing in Southwestern China. There, he worked with a United States State Department team that helped manage the logistics of US military aid to China.

After the defeat of the Japanese in 1945, George traveled to Shanghai and got a job with the United States Army. It was there that he met his beloved Noela Allaye Chan (b. 1921, d. 1997), working in the same office. They would marry in 1948 and leave for Hong Kong as refugees from the Chinese Civil War.

In Hong Kong, George and Noela would start a family, blessed with two sons, Philip and Thomas. George would work at the United States Consulate, which would lead to an opportunity for the family to emigrate to the US in 1956.

Landing in San Francisco, George got a job as a paymaster on the waterfront with American President Lines. He would stay with the company in its financial record keeping division until his retirement in 1983. George and Noela would have two more sons, Francis and Andrew, and joined the community at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church. They would move to South San Francisco in 1960, becoming longtime parishioners at All Souls Church.

George and Noela would have a fruitful life as active members of the community and raising their family. Sadly their son Thomas would pass away in 1982, and Noela would pass away in 1997. George enjoyed a long retirement, spending many years as

a volunteer at All Souls, enjoying his grandchildren, travels to China and Europe, reading, opera, playing the harmonica and drums. He will be missed in loving memory by his immediate and extended family, as well as the local South San Francisco community.

The funeral will be on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, 10 a.m.

All Souls Catholic Church, 315 Walnut Ave., South San Francisco