Ruby Chow, a highly influential, pivotal figure in Seattle's Chinese American community, died this morning: Ruby Chow dead at 87. Mrs. Chow had congestive heart failure and suffered a major stroke four years ago. More here: Ruby Chow, 1920-2008: City loses political, cultural trailblazer.
In every respect, Mrs. Wong was a trailblazer. She was the first Asian American to serve on the Metropolitan King County Council and was the first woman ever elected president of the Chong Wa Benevolent Association, an international organization that advocates for Chinese immigrants. She's described as a champion of justice:
Former Gov. Gary Locke, the first Chinese-American governor on the U.S. mainland, called her "a trailblazer" who helped thousands.Reading her obituary, I found out a couple of other interesting tidbits about her... Her husband, Ping, was a famous Cantonese opera star, she helped Seattle's first Asian American city councilman get elected and—coolest of all, to me—Bruce Lee once lived above her family restaurant, back when he used to work there. His father in Hong Kong apparently asked Mrs. Chow for help with his son, so she hooked him up with a job! Yes, count on me to fixate on her connection to Bruce Lee.
"If she was on your side, watch out. It was going to get done," said Locke, who once made yard signs for Chow's campaign. "She was like a grandmother, a very proud grandmother to thousands."
Many considered the family matriarch, who was known for fairness, finishing what she started and beehive hairdos, a legend because of her decades of service to Chinatown and other civic work.
"She said that if she ever had an opportunity to help others, she would. She knew that was all the difference in the world for her mother," said her daughter, Cheryl Chow, president of the Seattle School Board and a former city councilwoman.
