John H. Fong

January 24, 1929 - November 17, 2022

John H. Fong passed away early Thursday morning, November 17th, 2022 after a brief illness. He was 93.

John was born January 24, 1929, the third child of six to Philip Fong and Chow Ho Yee in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He attended Polytechnic High, but never graduated as he spent most of his high school years at the California Sanatorium in Belmont fighting tuberculosis. He would later say that he got a decent education there by listening to the radio for news and baseball broadcasts.

John worked in his father’s bakery/restaurant, Fong Fong, as a short order cook and waiter (or as he liked to proudly say, a “soda jerk”), and ran the bakery counter. He married Lil Wong in 1954 and they were married for 68 years. After Fong Fong closed in the early 70’s, John, by this time legally blind due to a degenerative eye condition, devoted his time as an officer with a local non-profit, Blind San Franciscans, volunteered with the Talking Books and Braille Center at the SF Public Library, sang choir with the East Bay Center for the Blind, completed his GED, became baptized, and wrote a monthly column for the Salvation Army South of Market Corps newsletter which he eventually compiled into a self-published book, Stories from Chinatown, which can be ordered on LuLu.com.

John raised three children with Lil, passing on his love of baseball, model trains, Broadway musicals, dessert, and goofball comedy (not so much his fondness for opera and Gilbert & Sullivan), while never failing to have an afternoon cup of coffee with his buddies in Chinatown. An avid 49ers fan, he said their first Super Bowl victory on his birthday in 1982 was the best birthday gift he ever received. He loved to travel and see the world despite his limited eyesight. Favorite destinations were New York City, Washington DC, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Europe, Japan, China, and Hong Kong.

John was predeceased by his parents, sister Nancy, and brothers Tommy, Weyman, Wentworth, and Leslie. He is survived by his wife Lil, daughter Raynee (Ron), sons Kellee (Alicia) and J.D. (Laura), grandchildren Andrew, Alex, Micah, and Noah, and numerous extended family members.