Daniel Drew Jong

July 5, 1958 - December 23, 2018

Daniel Drew Jong quietly took his last breath at sunrise, December 23, 2018 in Oakland Kaiser Hospital, the same hospital where he was born 60 years ago. He passed peacefully.

His father Francis Jong met his mother Elizabeth during WWII, both serving with the Flying Tigers in China, where they returned to raise their four children, Andrew, Bendrew and Christine, born in the 1940’s, and Daniel born in 1958. He was the joy of his parents’ hearts, and as the much younger child, became their “only” child, growing up in El Cerrito California and living there until his marriage in 1995 to Lisa Adame-Corker when he moved to a house in El Sobrante, CA. Their son Kalikiano Jong was born there in 1998.

Daniel was intimately associated with the University of California Berkeley all his life. After graduating from Kennedy High School, Richmond, in 1975, he graduated from Cal (U.C. Berkeley) with a major in psychology in 1979. While at Berkeley, he worked for the Cal Visitors Center and after graduation continued working for Cal in the parking division which led to his job at the California DMV. Daniel then worked as a financial analyst for Charles Schwab, and finally came back home to U.C. Berkeley where he worked as a financial analyst until he retired last year in July, at age 60, due to health complications which, unfortunately, brought him to his early demise.

Daniel loved Cal. From high school on, Daniel attended as many Cal sports events as he could, rooting for Cal football and basketball teams as a season ticket holder, and attending every other Cal event he could, including gymnastics

But his real passion was with the churches he attended. First the Berkeley Chinese Community Church, where his mom and dad were early founders, then later with the Christian Layman Church as an adult. He sang in choirs, was an avid volunteer for church duties, and used his audio/ visual skills to record church events. One fun joy was his audio work with the Hawaiian Island Ministries for a large conference in Honolulu every year.

Daniel was loved by most everyone he came in contact with for his kindness, volunteering, and joy. And no one had greater faith in Christ and God then Daniel. This deep faith helped him through his last days, knowing he had a limited time left on earth, but knowing he did everything he could do in the name of God and that he would be able to join his loving parents, who have passed before him.

Daniel leaves his brother Bendrew, sister Christine, and his son Kalikiano, and moreover the countless friends he developed over the years. He will be missed by all.

We invite you to The Celebration of Life Service to be held on Saturday January 19, 2019 at 11:00 am at the Tilden Room, 5th Floor at the ASUC Student Building at Bancroft and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Casual attire (e.g. Aloha shirts in the spirit of Daniel’s affinity to Hawaii) would be something Daniel would have liked. Street parking, public parking, and ASUC basement parking available.

The family requests that donations be made to the Berkeley Chinese Community Church at http://bcccucc.org/. For family contact: bendrewjong@mac.com