Su Li Kang Loh
3/7/1929 to 5/16/2022
Dear Friends and Relatives,
Thank you viewing this website. It is a celebration of the long and wonderful life lived by our beloved mother. She was a beautiful, intelligent and brave woman. She lived a successful life in spite of the many difficulties and challenges she had to endure. She helped raise two younger brothers and five of her own children. She has also sponsored numerous people and families to come and make a new life in America.
In China, during the 1950’s, she worked as a nurse and midwife. In addition to becoming head nurse at Shanghai Hospital, she delivered hundreds of babies, ran a busy acupuncture clinic at the hospital and vaccinated entire families by going door to door in her neighborhood. She always put the needs of others before her own.
In 1959, our father told our mother that she must “build a bridge for our future” and to go to New York where our grandparents lived. In order to do this, she had to leave behind her husband, son and youngest daughter in Shanghai, and paid an exorbitant price for herself and two daughters to be smuggled on a small fishing boat to Hong Kong from Macau.
It was a very stormy night and the boat had to return to shore due to the torrential rain and ten-foot waves. The unsanitary conditions of the boat made her daughters sick with nausea. One became feverish and dehydrated.
The next evening in the pouring rain, everyone boarded the same filthy boat. Given her daughter was still quite ill, our mother refused to go and had to forfeit her payment. They watched the small fishing boat disappear behind a long stretch of rocks and then heard a thunderous boom. Countless lives were lost. Our mother and two sisters were spared by the Mercy of God. It was His Will that they should live and move on. They would make it to New York after staying in Hong Kong for three years.
In 1962, there was a shortage of nurses in the United States. A good friend of our grandmother asked her dentist friend to sponsor our mom as a nurse. Their visas were granted and they arrived at Idlewild airport which was renamed as JFK airport one year later.
Mom had to borrow $2000.00 for the air fare. She worked at the dentist’s office during the week. At nights and during the weekends, she worked in a restaurant, earning nickels and dimes in tips. Her very first tip was 13 cents. She saw this as an omen that life would be hard in this country. And even so, in less than six months, she repaid the loan.
By saving and investing wisely; within six years, she was able to buy a house in Flushing where she has lived for the past 54 years. Her kindness and generosity made her very popular. She was active in her community and especially her church. In 1989, she was one of the founding members of the Chinese United Methodist Mission in Flushing. Her granddaughter called her “the Mayor of Flushing”, as almost certainly someone would stop and talk to her in the street whenever they would go on errands or shopping.
Our mother was a smart business woman. She was the owner of two Chinese Restaurants. She also helped our grandfather rebuild his import and export business after an electrical fire burnt down his store. She personally made trips to Hong Kong and Taiwan, securing business deals and acquiring merchandise for the store.
Over the years, she suffered multiple health challenges including cancer three times. But this last tumor was too advanced and God has called her home.
Mom has endured many hardships in her life and faced many difficult decisions, especially the painful separation of her family. She is now in heaven enjoying peace and paradise. She leaves behind five children, seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren. It was her greatest joy to watch her family grow to four generations.
Let us remember her beauty, kindness and strength. She never wavered in any adversity. She always stood tall and marched forward. She can honestly say, “I have fought the good fight. I have completed my course. I have kept my faith.” Timothy Chapter 4 Verse 7.
May God welcome her into His Kingdom and bless us all with His Peace.
Amen