TAN, Reverend Doctor Wee Chong, born January 6, 1930 in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China, fell asleep in the Lord, January 10, 2013. Survived by his sisters and their families: Grace, Scottsdale Arizona; Rachel, Austin Texas; Sylvia, Los Angeles; Esther, Los Angeles; Helen, San Jose; and his brother Chen Fu Zhong in Hong Kong. Dr. Tan’s memory will be cherished by his loving family and legion of friends all over the world.
Visitation at McCall Bros. Downtown (1400 Vancouver Street Victoria, BC), on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 4 pm – 8 pm. Parastas (Memorial Service) and All-Night Vigil at All Saints of Alaska Orthodox Church (5363 Patricia Bay Highway, across from Elk Lake), on Monday, January 14, 2013, beginning at 7 pm, everyone welcome. Funeral Service at St. John the Divine Anglican Church (1611 Quadra Street Victoria, BC), on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 11:30 am. Eulogies will be offered at the reception in the Church Hall of St. John the Divine. Burial at Royal Oak Burial Park (4673 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC). Condolences may be offered the family below.
37 Responses
It saddens me to discover Dr. Tan’s passing. He was an inspiration, full of life, wisdom, and innovation. I am grateful to have attended the Canadian College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine as one of the pioneering students and had the honour of having him teach us. I will never forget his words, ” you are not a master of your craft until you have 50 years of experience.” Apparently, I am still in my infancy as I have another 25 years to go before I master the art of Chinese medicine. You will be missed dearly and you will forever stay in my heart fondly.
Our recollections of Wee Chong Tan begin over 50 years ago when we were graduate students at Indiana University with no titles and single names (Tan, Alex and Barbara). Tan and Alex were pursuing doctorates in the Biochemistry Department at the Indiana University Medical Center (Indianapolis) while Barbara commuted to Bloomington for doctoral work in art history. Alex’s first encounter with Tan involved responding to the query “are you Jewish?” What a strange question! Alex replied that his father came from a small Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean and could easily pass as an Arab, Israeli or Turk. We soon realized that Tan had a heightened cultural and ethnic awareness and he worked meticulously to respect the sensitivities of others. This, of course, provided the foundation for his subsequent life-long activities in religion and education.
The Biochemistry department in the 1960s contained a remarkable mix considering that the state of Indiana was very traditionally Midwestern at that time. Concepts of diversity and multiculturalism were not yet on the horizon. The combined staff, students and faculty encompassed US citizens of African, Asian, Hispanic and European origin. Scholars from abroad (Canada, Ceylon–Sri Lanka, England, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Scotland, Thailand) added to the melting pot. It was a wonderful opportunity for Tan to promote harmony among groups with ethnic and political grievances. The 1960s ended with now Dr. Wee Chong Tan going to England for postdoctoral research at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Concurrently, he studied for the priesthood in the Church of England eventually becoming Reverend Dr. Wee Chong Tan. At the same time we relocated to New York City where Alex did postdoctoral research at the Rockefeller University in the laboratory of Bruce Merrifield (1984 Nobel Laureate in chemistry). Tan visited us in the mid-1970s and gave a very well received talk to the Merrifield laboratory on a trip to China.
Our meetings became less frequent over the years after we returned to California. A memorable exception was a trip to Victoria in 1995 after a family wedding in Washington. Tan gave us a wonderful guided tour of Victoria including the impressive Butchart Gardens. We hope that we have provided you with a sense of Tan’s pre-Canadian life and career. Hopefully, he will inspire many others to follow in his footsteps. Something must be done to mitigate the polarization and violence that seems to be growing worldwide by the day. Rest in peace, Reverend Dr. Wee Chong Tan.
Dear Family Tan,
today I was reviewing some old photographs and notices of various travels I took to Israel and Egypt in the 70 and 80.
And I remembered that my friend Jürgen and I met Wee Chong on a trip from Tel Aviv to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor etc.
We became friends and spent all our time together (about 2 weeks).
I was impressed by his sound knowledge, good humor, his modesty and his interest in people and cultures.
We laughed a lot and enjoyed our time.
He invited us to visit him in B.C. , but unfortunatly we couldn’t realise it and by the time we lost contact.
So today I googled his name and found this sad information.
I’ll always remember him as a warmhearted and caring man with a unresistable smile and kindness.
Fare well old friend…..
I hope that heaven is everything you hoped for. In the meantime, you are sincerely missed here on earth. R.I.P.
Love and miss you forever and all ways R.I.P
Thank you for being such a visionary and for leading the way. You were an inspiration to me and many others. Your life lives on in our hearts and minds and in our work to serve humankind.
Wee Chong, I miss you so much, and will miss you forever. I lose the mentor…