Pak plaque might show wrong birthplace
The commemorative bronze plaque at the entrance of Muni’s new Chinatown-Rose Pak Station doesn’t have its namesake’s birthplace incorrect, according to a statement from Pak’s sister provided by the Rose Pak Community Fund.
The plaque memorializing Pak, the late political power broker who played an enormous role in making the highly-anticipated Central Subway project a reality before her death in 2016 at age 68, will greet riders entering the Chinatown station when the highly anticipated Central Subway opens for limited service Saturday.
The plaque reads, “Rose Pak was born in Henan Province, China, and grew up in Hong Kong and Macao before coming to San Francisco in 1967.”
An S.F. Standard reporter first pointed out late Thursday on Twitter that the plaque honoring Pak as a “community champion” apparently got Pak’s birthplace wrong, prompting The Chronicle examine the issue and publish a story Friday afternoon. The article reported Pak’s birthplace as Hunan province, about a nine-hour drive south of Henan.
Obituaries published by The Chronicle, New York Times and Associated Press at the time of Pak’s death in September 2016 said Pak was born in Hunan province. The pamphlet for Pak’s Sept. 23, 2016 funeral service also states she “was born to Yun Shan Pak and Anna Wong in Heng Yang, Hunan Province, China, in 1947.”
But, in a statement provided to The Chronicle, Pak’s younger sister, Joanna Kish, said the plaque’s engraving is correct and Pak, who city leaders attribute as the driving force behind the advocacy for the Central Subway, was indeed born in Henan, China.
“Rose was born in Henan, China. We reviewed the facts on the plaque before it was published and we stand by it,” Kish said in a statement provided late Monday afternoon by Dixon Li of the Rose Pak Community Fund. “Any distractions to deter the intention to highlight my sister’s leadership in the project are not appreciated.”
The Rose Pak Community Fund said in a statement to The Chronicle after publication of this story, that the assertion that Pak was not born in Henan, China “is false.”
“Ms. Pak was indeed born in Henan, China, as stated on the plaque,” the statement reads. “This important fact has now been re-confirmed by her family. The writing on the plaque is correct. Prior to submitting this inscription, the text was approved by Ms. Pak’s sister, Joanna Kish.”
Attempts to reach Kish on Monday were unsuccessful. The Rose Pak Community Fund did not respond to multiple requests Sunday evening and Monday to facilitate contact with Kish to verify Pak’s birthplace.
In an email late Monday afternoon, Li shared a statement attributed to Kish and said Pak’s family didn’t want to speak with The Chronicle. Li shared a screenshot of what he said was a text exchange with Kish noting that Pak was born in Henan — despite obituaries and funeral materials that said otherwise.
“Unfortunately, there was misinformation out there, and was never addressed,” Li said in an email.
The Standard reported Monday afternoon that anonymous sources “who had firsthand conversations with Pak also confirmed ... that (Pak) said she was born in Hunan.”
The plaque is displayed at the entrance of a subway station that will be the new terminus of Muni’s T-Third Street line. When it opens, the $1.95 billion, 1.7-mile Central Subway will take riders to four new stations in South of Market, Union Square and Chinatown, linking the neighborhood via rail transit to the Bayview and Visitacion Valley.
The conceptual birth of the Central Subway project goes as far back as at least February 1984. That’s when Pak met with city transportation staff to discuss a potential rail extension on Third Street that would connect to Chinatown, she recalled at a 2008 Municipal Transportation Agency board meeting where directors gave the project final approval.
Almost four decades later, the project will become reality.
The San Francisco MTA’s Board of Directors decided to name the Chinatown station after Pak in a controversial 2019 vote.
“For three decades, Rose Pak championed the Central Subway, a critical transportation service for residents and businesses in Chinatown and San Francisco neighborhoods,” Pak’s memorial plaque reads.