Yuk Ping "Winnie" Wong

Seeking the Sweetest Home

Yuk-Ping "Winnie" Wong immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong shortly after her marriage. As a full-time working woman and a mother of two children, Winnie did not attain her goal of obtaining a college degree until a few years ago. Her dream came true in the fall of 1999 when she received her bachelor’s degree with honors in accounting from Bernard M. Brauch College. She was a member of Beta Alpha Psi and Golden Key Accounting Society. She has since worked for a few places but none worked out. She became a tax auditor trainee at the New York State Department Taxation and Finance in June 2001. There, she felt she had found her niche, and devoted her life to the job.

Winnie was a cheerful individual. In the memorial service organized by the New York State Department, many of her co-workers told me how brilliant she was.

Winnie had been actively involved in ministries of a Christian church for some time, and was a member of the choir. She was actually attending a baptismal class preparing herself for a forthcoming baptism, shortly before her disappearance.

News of the Word Trade Center attack terribly impacted our family. We have, however, found much hope and comfort in the midst of the tragedy. We know Winnie has moved onward, to the Sweetest Home in Heaven, a place where she is happily staying. There we shall all meet again one day.
Tribute submitted by Ariane Yuk-Ling Leung.


Admired for Her Brilliance

Yuk-Ping Wong, known as Winnie, went to college after raising her sons, Eddie, 22, and Christopher, 18. "It was tough," said her sister, Ariane Yuk-Ling Leung. "In Chinese culture, usually people go to school when they're younger. She felt somewhat out of place in the classes."

But Brian Keener, chairman of the English department at New York City Technical College, called her an outstanding student. "She would work around the clock," he said of Winnie. She graduated from there and from Baruch College with honors.

At Ms. Wong's memorial service, her co- workers at the New York State Department Taxation and Finance told Ms. Leung that her sister was brilliant. "They asked me to tell my mother, `She was brilliant like sunshine.' " Ms. Wong was the oldest of seven children.

As a tax auditor trainee, she started working at the World Trade Center in June. She had been living with her parents in Brooklyn after a divorce in 1996. She was vivacious, stylish and well dressed, an "educated consumer" when it came to finding bargains, her sister said. She was taking baptism classes at her church, where she sang in the choir.

"Winnie has moved onward, to the sweetest home in heaven," Ms. Leung wrote in a Web page in her honor.