Mary (Lai Ching) Mar Fong

Apr 1,1930 – July 17, 2015

After an eventful life of 85 years, Mary (Lai Ching) passed away peacefully with her loved ones by her side after a prolonged illness with Alzheimer’s disease.

Born 1930 in China, she was the youngest child of the Mar family in Sun Wui of the Guangdong province. During the Sino-Chinese war, she apprenticed to become a goldsmith, making 24K gold jewelry. In 1947, with the help of her eldest brother, Mar So, she immigrated to San Francisco. At the age of 17 years old, not speaking a word of English, she enrolled and graduated from Galileo High School. In 1953, she met her husband-to-be, Wilbur; after a 6 month courtship, they married in December.

To start a new life together, they moved to Sacramento, CA, where Wilbur was from. Soon after, they started a family in 1955 and opened a jewelry store. Subsequently, a decision was made to relocate the jewelry store, returning back to San Francisco in 1960. Initially, she struggled with the business single-handedly, all while being a single parent during the weekdays. Initially, Wilbur came out on weekends, while he held his civilian position with the Signal Corps of the US Army; the business became so successful that the family reunited fulltime.

Overcoming a language barrier, she and her husband proceeded to run Lai Ching Jewelry, a highly successful jewelry store in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown for 23 years. Her connections in San Francisco and Hong Kong allowed her to be active in the community. Thanks to their efforts, many of the goldsmiths and their families working for the jewelry store were sponsored to immigrate into the United States, widening Mary’s contribution to the American Dream in a very direct and personal way.

She is survived by her daughter, Kathleen (Garwood); her son, Clifford (Norma); her grandchildren, Marisa, Cyril and Christopher; her brother, May; her sister, Lily and numerous brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and grand-nieces, all of whom remember her with respect and love.

Celebration of life at McAvoy-O’hara Co, Evergreen Mortuary, Geary at 10th Ave, San Francisco, CA on August 2, 2015 at 3:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (http://www.alz.org/index. asp) or the American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org