Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Friday, June 02, 2006 at 04:52:32 :
San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, July 21, 2001
A18
Pioneer flower grower Fong Shee Lum, 99
by Bill Workman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Fong Shee Lum, matriarch of an immigrant Chinese family that helped establish the now nearly defunct Asian American wholesale flower growing industry on the Peninsula, died on July 8 at the age of 99.
Shortly after arriving in the Bay Area from China in 1920, Mrs. Lum, her late husband, Lum Toy, and their young family leased farmland on a Belmont hillside, where they became among the earliest growers of chrysanthemums in the region.
They later moved to East Palo Alto, where Mr. Lum was said to have pioneered the farming of asters for wholesale shipment to markets on the East Coast, as well as in San Francisco.
As business flourished, Lum Toy established Lum Toy Flowers Co. in Menlo Park, which his sons continued to operate until the early 1990s, long after their father died in 1965.
Since her husband's death, Mrs. Lum lived in retirement in Menlo Park, attending to family matters and frequently traveling to China.
"My mom and dad came down to the Peninsula to farm, just like other poor Chinese immigrants at the time, because it was the closest thing to the hilly land they had left behind in China," said a daughter, Mae Fong.
In an oral history interview a few years ago, Mrs. Lum recalled that primitive sanitary conditions at the early Belmont farm led to a visit from a local health official, who demanded removal of an outhouse.
Mrs. Lum is also survived by three other daughters, Margaret Kam and Alice Ching, both of Honolulu, and Frances Koop of San Rafael; sons Charles of Atherton, Robert of San Francisco and Louis of San Rafael; and 23 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
A family celebration of her life was held last Saturday.
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same paper as above:
LUM, Fong Shee -- Matriarch of the Lum family of Menlo Park died peacefully at her residence on July 8, 2001 surrounded by her family, at the age of 99. Mrs. Lum immigrated to the United States arriving at Angel Island at the age of 21, after a long 30 day journey aboard a Japanese freighter. Detained for nearly 3 weeks for medical reasons. Together with her husband Lum Toy they worked tirelessly in the flower industry when horticulture expertise was very limited. First to Pioneer the growing of asters and chrysanthemums within the peninsula area in the 1920's, moving their operation to East Palo Alto, soon becoming known as the 'Aster King'. Owning and operating Lum Toy Flowers in Menlo Park, a prominent floral business, shipping flowers wholesale to the East Coast. Mr. Lum passed away in 1965. The sons carried on the flower tradition, Charles operating Lum Toy Flowers in Menlo Park and Bob Lum operating Bob Lum Florist in San Carlos, in the retail sector. Since her husband's death she retired, having made 9 trips back to her home village in Kwong Tung (canton) China, also traveling to Europe, Thailand, Canada, Alaska, Japan and Taiwan. Devoting her time and attention absorbing the success of her 23 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren with their careers in medicine, optometry, dentistry, philosophy, economics, accounting, engineering, printing and law. She was motivated with many interests and blessed with good health. 'Our Grandmother was a remarkable person, living everyday to its fullest,' says Grandaughter, Dr. Candace Fong Hartnett, Director of Pharmacology at Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City. Mrs. Fong Shee Lum is survived by her sons, Charles (Lilian) of Atherton, Robert (Pat) of San Francisco, Louis (Sandra) of San Rafael; daughters Mae Fong (Paul) of Sacramento, Margaret Kam (Harold) of Honolulu, Alice Ching (Clinton) of Honolulu, and Frances Koop (Clarence) of San Rafael. Her sons Tom and James preceded her in death. A family celebration of her life was held on July 14, 2001 at Skylawn Chapel of Light, San Mateo with burial in the family plot. Under the direction of John O'Connor's Menlo Colonial Chapel.
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