Mollie Leong

1921 - 2023

Mollie Leong
November 13, 1921 - May 13, 2023
Mollie J. Leong was born on November 13, 1921 in Isleton, California to Jow Yee Chun and Lee Shee. Her father, Jow Yee Chun originated in Chungshan district, Guangdong province and ran a successful family restaurant in Reno, Nevada. Mollie was raised in Reno and Salt Lake City and educated at the University of Nevada (she loved fitness, history and English) and the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied the Mandarin Chinese language. Mollie was the fifth of six children (Edna, Ernestine, Mary, Charles, and Bill) all of whom she outlived by decades. After WW2 Mollie met her husband, Charles Leong (1911-1984) and was married at the Stanford University Chapel, her husband's alma mater. Together with raising their two sons, Eric and Russell, in Chinatown, San Francisco, she designed her own interiors (red being her favorite color) and designed, modeled and sewed the Chinese cheongsam dress for herself and for other women. Mollie worked as a business manager for numerous interior design firms in San Francisco, and was a longtime volunteer for local civic organizations including the Chinatown Library, Square and Circle Club, Chinese Hospital Auxiliary and Self-Help for the elderly. Her daily chi-gong exercises, attention to health, and love of walking in San Francisco and travel to Asia and Europe no doubt contributed to her independent spirit and lifestyle well into her nineties. Mollie will be missed for her beauty and fitness, for her modern attitude (as the only daughter to refuse match-making!), and for her vivacious spirit by her two sons, by her grandson Charlie of Minnesota, by Irene Leong of Marin, by Bonni Lee of the Bay Area, and by her nieces and nephews including Linda Chang and Stephen Lee of Los Angeles, Ron Gon of Sacramento, and her many friends throughout the years near and far. Mollie lived as a truly inimitable Chinese American woman who exemplifies the vivacity, talent, and enterprise of her generation born and raised in America, artfully combining East and West during her 101 years. She passed peacefully on May 13th, 2023 in San Francisco. A private family gathering will be held in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Coming Home Hospice, San Francisco.