Steven Wong Obituary

Steven Wong
July 20, 1948 - August 23, 2021
Resident of Hayward, CA
Family, friends, former co-workers, and fellow social justice activists mourn the loss of Steven Wong, who died peacefully at home from cancer. He was a remarkably open-hearted & generous man who sought equality for all.
He leaves behind his loving wife Joan (Mary) Radin, brother Thomas (Patsy) Wong of Sacramento, sister Susan Wong of Chattanooga, and many cherished cousins, nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by his parents, Eddie and Betty Wong, immigrants from Hoiping, and brother Ronnie Wong.
Born in China, Steve grew up in Sacramento. His father worked in restaurants, eventually opening his own, the Center Café. His mother was a cannery worker. He attended public schools – learning English in kindergarten – and graduated in 1966 from McClatchy H.S. He attended Sacramento City College for two years while working full-time at Farmer's Market to help support the family.
In 1968 Steve entered UC Berkeley where he took part in the movement against the Vietnam War. With other student activists he helped to provide free tutoring for immigrant children, self-empowerment for the elderly, and solidarity with garment workers' struggles in S.F. Chinatown.
On campus Steve was a member of the Asian-American Political Alliance, which was part of the Third World Liberation Front – the organization that led the 1969 student strike at Berkeley which won the establishment of Ethnic Studies Departments (African-American, Chicano, Native American and Asian-American) in the UC system. He was one of the first instructors of Asian-American studies at Berkeley and a frequent guest speaker in college classes until 2020.
Graduating from Cal in 1970, Steve was instrumental in the founding – and often staffing – of Everybody's Bookstore in San Francisco Manilatown, the first Asian-American bookstore in the U.S. He also helped to establish two other organizations in San Francisco Chinatown: The Asian Community Center and Wei Min She (Organization for the People), which had a focus on labor, housing and especially free speech rights.
In the 1970's Steve was active in the years-long and unsuccessful fight against corporate developers intent on razing the International Hotel in San Francisco Manilatown, home to scores of Filipino and Chinese low income retirees. He was one of thousands of stalwart defenders who tried to prevent their violent eviction on the infamous night of August 4, 1977.
Steve always loved books, reading and learning. He continued to work as a bookseller for several decades, primarily at Books, Inc. and Stacey's in San Francisco, where many of his customers became his friends.
In 1996 Steve began his final career as a passenger conductor on Amtrak. He loved his job, his San Joaquin Valley route, and thrived on meeting new and interesting people on the train. He retired in 2015, but stayed close to many fellow railroaders.
The family wishes to thank everyone who supported Steve during his illness, with rides to treatment, phone calls, cards, Zoom chats and food – especially roast duck, loco-moco and salted fish fried rice. Special thanks to Kaiser Hayward Hospice, which allowed him to live out his days at home.
At Steve's request, there were no services. No date has been set yet for a Celebration of his Life due to COVID.

View the online memorial for Steven Wong

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Published by East Bay Times on Oct. 9, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for Steven Wong

Sponsored by East Bay Times.

6 Entries

Jeanie

October 3, 2023

The first time I saw Steve was at a huge anti-war march, the Vietnam Moratorium in 1969, that ended at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, followed by a rally with many speakers. Anyone else remember this? One of many memories shared with old friends and activists from the long 60s.

Jonathan Whitaker

August 11, 2023

I was just shown this by a coworker of mine as we were sharing memories of our beloved friend Steve Wong. Steve was one of the kindest, friendliest and most thoughtful people I've ever met! He is sorely missed by all who knew him! This world really is a much dimmer place without the light of his soul which he shared so freely. Rest in peace Mr. Wong...

Steve Yip

November 14, 2021

In Memory of, and a Tribute to, Steve Wong
July 20, 1948 - August 23, 2021

I´m writing on my disbelief for losing our beloved Steve Wong, as well as sharing my condolences with his family for their loss.

It was my privilege to have been associated with Steve or "Wonga." He was one of older activists that I looked up to. Back in the day, I was the youngest member who helped co-build Everybody´s Bookstore, the Asian Community Center, and then later, founded Wei Min She, the Asian American anti-imperialist organization.

What is more memorable is Steve´s huge, unsung role in lofting and shepherding "Asian Studies 30: Introduction to Community Organization and Development" in the first year of Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley. This was a seminal class that captured the spirit and ethos of Asian American studies and whose inspiration flowed from the Third World Liberation Front strike at Berkeley. In that first year, as an impressionable 19-year-old, I was one of Wong´s first teaching assistants where we helped integrate college students to serve and learn from underserved Asian communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

It goes without saying, but it needs to be repeated that Wong had a big passion for BOOKS. It was natural that he would become the stalwart in developing Everybody´s Bookstore in 1969 from a hole-in-wall little storefront that featured revolutionary and progressive Chinese language materials and transformed it to be an indispensable destination where one could find historical and emerging Asian American works and rising literature that had firmly established the Asian American collective experience.

What a legacy to history and the fight for social justice!

Steve Wong Presente!

Steve Yip
New York City, New York
November 14, 2021

Alan Self

October 18, 2021

Gone but never forgotten. Steve was a Gentleman, Scholar and a mentor to me and so many others at Amtrak. Never had a pork bun in my life till I meet him. Good stuff sir. Our thoughts and prayers to Joan and the family. Rest in peace my friend.

Harvey Dong

October 12, 2021

Condolences to Joan Radin and rest of family. Steve Wong accomplished much in his life; in particular, he stood for freedom, justice and equality. We'll always have his spirit close to us. Presente Ancestor Steve!

John Hibbits

October 10, 2021

Steve was a person who kept mind and heart, the former deep and broad, the latter as big as the Oakland Coliseum, in step. He was unfailingly friendly, and he was patient and loving with my kids, his niece and nephew (who in their tween years were thrilled by the size of his martial-arts movie collection). Not many people would attempt to read the titles of all the books in Steve´s library, much less the text beyond their covers. Even fewer people could glean as much from all that reading and then keep it cross-correlated and handy. Steve did. I never talked to him without learning something new. You could go anywhere Steve and he knew about it. And he shared his knowledge from generosity, sure everyone was as curious as he was about everything. I always hoped that one day Steve would get to see the shimmering green mountainsides in Virginia in summer. I wanted to hear his insights while he was unnerved in that humid landscape that just envelops you (no discomfort intended, though). The disability community has a slogan-nothing about us without us-that fits the way Steve approached the struggle for justice that includes everyone: that everyone counts regardless of the voice they can muster or have been allowed. Ask anyone who has seen or knows about his shirt collections, and you will hear that Steve really did include (well, almost) everything. You will be missed.

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