Lin Cheung Wing Chee (“Popo”) passed peacefully away on May 28, 2026. She was 91 years old.

Popo was born in Zhongshan, China in 1936, and she lived a life defined by incredible grit, quiet bravery, and an endless love for her family. As a young girl, she survived the horrors of World War Il and courageously helped her siblings escape to safety. The war cut her school years short, but it never stopped her love for learning-she had a brilliant ability to pick up new skills and master them with ease.

Growing up around her family's farm and rice fields, she stayed close to her mother's side where she learned the traditional Cantonese dishes she would feed us for decades. Popo never took shortcuts in the kitchen. She cooked everything strictly from scratch and insisted on using only the very best ingredients.

At just 13 years old, showing the fierce independence we all knew her for, she moved to Kowloon, Hong Kong on her own to work and send money back home to support her family.

There, she married her husband, Koi Lin. Ever eager to learn, she mastered the craft of sewing alongside him, adapting his skills as a tailor into her own life. Then in 1976, they made a massive sacrifice to move the family to America. She and her husband gave up everything familiar so their children could have the education and careers she never got to pursue.

Popo spent her life giving of herself to others.  She took in neighborhood kids in Hong Kong, taught them employable skills, paid tuition for relatives, and never stopped sending money back home to China to ensure her parents were well-provided for. She raised seven children and went on to help raise of all of her grandkids. Though there were so many of us, she had an amazing ability to make each of us feel deeply special and loved. None of us ever felt we had to fight for her attention. When she had her eyes on you, you truly felt like you were the center of the world.

She was happiest when her big family was all together, especially during our dim sum brunches. We will always remember her in her garden, playing lively games of mahjong and savoring a good, warm cup of hot tea or coffee.

She leaves behind five children, two daughters-in-law, eleven grandchildren, two grandsons-in-law, a granddaughter-in-law, and two great-granddaughters. Popo's strength, her sacrifices, and her boundless love are woven into who we are today. We will miss her terribly, but we will feel her with us at every family get together, every mahjong game, and every home-cooked meal.