SHIL O. "ALICE" WOON

Shil O. "Alice" Woon – beloved wife, mother, and grandmother – passed away peacefully at the age of 91 on October 5, 2022 at her adult family home in Bellevue, WA.

Alice was born to parents James and Pan Hon in a village located in Taishan County, China. Her father lived and worked in the Seattle/Tacoma area during the years that she was growing up in China, which enabled him to provide financial support for Alice's mother, younger brother, and Alice until WWII began – after which, he was no longer able to send money back to China. At that point, Alice was 10 years old, and her family needed to farm for survival until the war ended.

After the war ended, the family had to undergo a long immigration process before Alice's father was finally able to sponsor his family's immigration to the United States in 1949. They were processed at Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay, and then traveled to Seattle to join James, where the family was reunited.

In 1952, Alice was introduced to Ben Woon through a friend of her mother's. Ben arrived at the family home one evening to meet Alice. The next day, he surprised Alice when he met her after her classes at Edison Technical School had ended for the day. He invited Alice and her friends to Ivar's Acres of Clams for lunch, and that was the beginning of their love story.

Ben and Alice were married in 1953, and raised three daughters – Teresa, Alisa, and Marisa. In 1959, they purchased a "mom and pop" grocery store in South Seattle, which they operated until 1966. During the same period of time, Ben was working as an accountant at Boeing, so Alice ran the store during the daytime and made many friends by interacting with neighbors who frequented the store, and this also sharpened her English skills. After selling the store, the family moved to a new home, which Ben and Alice had helped to design and had built. Despite working so hard, Ben and Alice always took Sundays off to take their family on day trip outings – clam digging on the Washington coast, Mount Rainier, Deception Pass, Hood Canal, Victoria and Vancouver, B.C., Portland, OR, and other Pacific NW destinations.

Alice loved preparing delicious meals and dim sum pastries for her family, as well as for her friends. Alice also enjoyed knitting and gardening. For many years, she knitted pink and blue caps to be delivered to the newborns at Northwest Hospital in Seattle. She also knit beautiful scarves and slipper socks for family and friends – and even knit sweaters for her daughter's little dog.

Between 2002 and 2011, Alice suffered a couple of medical challenges. Although she tried to persevere and maintain her independence as much as she could, the family realized that the best and safest course was to find a good adult family home for her. She lived the last 11 years of her life at Felicity Senior Care, where the wonderful caregivers cared for her as they would have cared for their own family members.

Alice is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Ben. She is survived by her daughters Teresa Woon, Alisa Woon, and Marisa Lee (Donald); her granddaughters Courtney Lee and Kaitlyn Lee, who were her pride and joy; and brothers John and Raymond. Alice's family was, above all else, what she loved most.

The family extends their deepest gratitude to the owner/operators and caregivers at Felicity Senior Care for their compassionate care and kindness.

A private family service was held at Bonney-Watson/Washington Memorial Park on Saturday, October 22, 2022.

Donations may be made in memory of Alice to Kin On Health Care Center, Seattle, WA.