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| TSO Mee Shew 曹美秀, April 15, 1935 |
My maternal grandmother TSO Mee Shew
曹美秀 was born in Shek Doi Village 石嘴村 in Taishan County, Guangdong, China, on November 7, 1917. She was the second daughter of Tso Wah Sun 曹華申 and Yow Shee 丘氏.
Her aunt arranged her engagement to CHIN Pak Yick in 1935, and they were married on August 29, 1936. Pak Yick had returned from America following the passing of his first wife and was already father to eleven children.
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| Gateway to Shek Doi Village, 2014 (credit: Douglas Lam) |
On June 19, 1937, they traveled to the U.S. aboard the SS President Coolidge and came to live at 326 7th Street in Oakland, California. Over the next eleven years she gave birth to two daughters then four sons (Mabel, Rose, Allen, Dennis, Fred, and Jimmy).
To Mee Shew’s credit, all of Pak Yick’s older children came to know and love her as their mother, not as a stepmother. During their 22 years of marriage, Mee Shew and Pak Yick faced many challenges. Jobs were scarce during the depression. They had to grow their own vegetables and raise chickens, ducks, squabs, and rabbits. News of the war with Japan and starvation in China were hard for all of them to hear.
During the 1940’s their financial situation gradually improved. In 1951, when Pak Yick became ill, the children got together and agreed that they would all chip in to help with expenses. On January 7, 1954, bad luck struck when Jimmy was hit by a car and died a few days later. Mee Shew was grief stricken, but eventually, concluded that there was nothing she could do to change what had happened.
At this time Mee Shew started to work at sewing factories starting at 30-40 cents a day and after a few years made about $11 a day. Through all of this time there were many happy times, marriages, and births of children and grandchildren. After Pak Yick’s death in 1958, she continued to work, and the family to grow and thrive.
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| TSO Mee Shew, September 1975 |
In her later years, Mee Shew spent time babysitting, attending family gatherings and traveling. In 1981, she returned to China and was reunited with her brother’s family. On August 16, 1983, Mee Shew became a citizen of the United States of America and eventually helped her niece and nephew emigrate from China. She enjoyed caring for and watching her children, 20 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren.
Reflecting on her life, Mee Shew said, “Life is nothing but a dream. It’s difficult to remember everything. From an old Chinese adage… standing, leaning, thinking, one realizes how time has passed and how Autumn is already upon us. Like waves in the lake, how does one know what shape one’s life will take?”
Mee Shew died on January 9, 2006.
Mee Shew, Pak Yick, his first wife Lee Moon-Yee, and their children Harry, Hammond, Jimmy, Edith, and Elsie are buried at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA.
Family Tree:
| 2nd Great Grandparents: | Tso Nguey Yee 曹魏伊 |
| Moy Shee 梅氏 | |
| Great Grandparents: | Tso Goon Nging 曹君盈 |
| Wah Shee 華氏 | |
| Grandparents: | Tso Bing Bew 曹秉表 |
| I Shee 戴氏 | |
| Parents: | Tso Wah Sun 曹華申 |
| Yow Shee 丘氏 |
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