Annie Soo
Former resident of Oakland
June 9, 1926 - March 8, 2012
Annie Soo passed away peacefully from congestive heart failure at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. She was 85. The oldest of five children, Annie Shew was born in 1926 (the year of the Tiger) in Watsonville, Calif. The Shew family moved to San Jose, and then to Fresno, where Annie spent much of her childhood. After her mother died in 1937, Annie and her brother Gilbert lived with an aunt and uncle in Stockton for several years, and Annie helped to look after her cousin.
Annie attended Fresno Tech (now defunct) and then Fresno State on four scholarships, three of which were for journalism. After graduation from Fresno State, she worked for a year at the Atwater Signal weekly newspaper and a year for the Merced Sun-Star. She moved to San Francisco and worked for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1950 to 1956. She met James Soo on March 17, 1951, and two years later they were married. They had two daughters, Maryann and Virginia.
Annie received her secondary teaching credential in journalism from San Francisco State in 1962. She taught in the Richmond Unified School District for 20 years, at Roosevelt Jr. High, El Cerrito High, and finally at Harry Ells High. She sponsored the newspaper and yearbook at both high schools and was proud to walk the picket line in the first teachers' strike in California in 1966. The Soo family moved to Oakland in 1963, where for many years they hosted many friends, relatives and exchange students at their home. In 1971-72, they sponsored an exchange student from Finland, Helja Antola, and in 1973-74, a young girl from Bogota, Colombia, Sonia Carvajal. Both became lifelong friends and "daughters" to Annie. From 1973 to 1984, they welcomed nephew John Soo into their home.
She is predeceased by her parents, Ah Bun and Lum Shee Shew, beloved husband, James Soo, brothers Gilbert and Bernard Shew, and half-sister Linda Shew. She is survived by daughters, Maryann (Scott Engers) and Virginia (Robert Kraencke), grandsons Wesley and Christopher Engers, step-mother, Lily Lung (Huey), sisters, Elizabeth Wong and Doris Shew, half-brothers Benjamin, Sherman, Wellman and Harvey Shew and their spouses and children. She is also survived by sister-in-law Phyllis Byrum, many nieces, nephews and their children who brought her so much happiness.
Annie loved to write, read, do needlepoint, collect stamps, go to musicals, cook, throw elaborate parties, and tell jokes. A seasoned traveler and avid photographer, she chronicled her world journeys in words and photos in her annual Christmas newsletters, which were eagerly awaited by hundreds of friends even when they arrived well into the new year. She volunteered with the Journalism Education Association, Northern California, the Chinese Historical Society of America, and WESTPEX Philatelic Society. In 2007, the CHSA honored her with the Annie Soo Spirit award, recognizing her decades of service. Her kindness, sense of humor, strength and positive attitude enabled her to live an active and long life. She will be missed by all whose lives were brighter by knowing her. Thank you especially for the love and care shown to Annie over the past eight years at the Pruneridge Residential Care Home.
Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation from 4-8 PM, Friday, March 16, at Grant Miller Mortuary, 2850 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 94609. Funeral services will be Saturday, March 17 (the 61st anniversary of the day she met her husband, Jim),at 11 AM at the mortuary followed by internment at Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, 94611. In lieu of flowers, her family respectfully requests you donate in her name to the Chinese Historical Society of America www.CHSA.org or Santa Clara Unified School District/Skills Plus, www.scusd.org.
Published in San Francisco Chronicle from March 15 to March 17, 2012.
Former resident of Oakland
June 9, 1926 - March 8, 2012
Annie Soo passed away peacefully from congestive heart failure at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. She was 85. The oldest of five children, Annie Shew was born in 1926 (the year of the Tiger) in Watsonville, Calif. The Shew family moved to San Jose, and then to Fresno, where Annie spent much of her childhood. After her mother died in 1937, Annie and her brother Gilbert lived with an aunt and uncle in Stockton for several years, and Annie helped to look after her cousin.
Annie attended Fresno Tech (now defunct) and then Fresno State on four scholarships, three of which were for journalism. After graduation from Fresno State, she worked for a year at the Atwater Signal weekly newspaper and a year for the Merced Sun-Star. She moved to San Francisco and worked for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1950 to 1956. She met James Soo on March 17, 1951, and two years later they were married. They had two daughters, Maryann and Virginia.
Annie received her secondary teaching credential in journalism from San Francisco State in 1962. She taught in the Richmond Unified School District for 20 years, at Roosevelt Jr. High, El Cerrito High, and finally at Harry Ells High. She sponsored the newspaper and yearbook at both high schools and was proud to walk the picket line in the first teachers' strike in California in 1966. The Soo family moved to Oakland in 1963, where for many years they hosted many friends, relatives and exchange students at their home. In 1971-72, they sponsored an exchange student from Finland, Helja Antola, and in 1973-74, a young girl from Bogota, Colombia, Sonia Carvajal. Both became lifelong friends and "daughters" to Annie. From 1973 to 1984, they welcomed nephew John Soo into their home.
She is predeceased by her parents, Ah Bun and Lum Shee Shew, beloved husband, James Soo, brothers Gilbert and Bernard Shew, and half-sister Linda Shew. She is survived by daughters, Maryann (Scott Engers) and Virginia (Robert Kraencke), grandsons Wesley and Christopher Engers, step-mother, Lily Lung (Huey), sisters, Elizabeth Wong and Doris Shew, half-brothers Benjamin, Sherman, Wellman and Harvey Shew and their spouses and children. She is also survived by sister-in-law Phyllis Byrum, many nieces, nephews and their children who brought her so much happiness.
Annie loved to write, read, do needlepoint, collect stamps, go to musicals, cook, throw elaborate parties, and tell jokes. A seasoned traveler and avid photographer, she chronicled her world journeys in words and photos in her annual Christmas newsletters, which were eagerly awaited by hundreds of friends even when they arrived well into the new year. She volunteered with the Journalism Education Association, Northern California, the Chinese Historical Society of America, and WESTPEX Philatelic Society. In 2007, the CHSA honored her with the Annie Soo Spirit award, recognizing her decades of service. Her kindness, sense of humor, strength and positive attitude enabled her to live an active and long life. She will be missed by all whose lives were brighter by knowing her. Thank you especially for the love and care shown to Annie over the past eight years at the Pruneridge Residential Care Home.
Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation from 4-8 PM, Friday, March 16, at Grant Miller Mortuary, 2850 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 94609. Funeral services will be Saturday, March 17 (the 61st anniversary of the day she met her husband, Jim),at 11 AM at the mortuary followed by internment at Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, 94611. In lieu of flowers, her family respectfully requests you donate in her name to the Chinese Historical Society of America www.CHSA.org or Santa Clara Unified School District/Skills Plus, www.scusd.org.
Published in San Francisco Chronicle from March 15 to March 17, 2012.
Annie Soo
Former resident of Oakland
June 9, 1926 - March 8, 2012
Annie Soo passed away peacefully from congestive heart failure at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. She was 85. The oldest of five children, Annie Shew was born in 1926 (the year of the Tiger) in Watsonville, Calif. The Shew family moved to San Jose, and then to Fresno, where Annie spent much of her childhood. After her mother died in 1937, Annie and her brother Gilbert lived with an aunt and uncle in Stockton for several years, and Annie helped to look after her cousin.
Annie attended Fresno Tech (now defunct) and then Fresno State on four scholarships, three of which were for journalism. After graduation from Fresno State, she worked for a year at the Atwater Signal weekly newspaper and a year for the Merced Sun-Star. She moved to San Francisco and worked for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1950 to 1956. She met James Soo on March 17, 1951, and two years later they were married. They had two daughters, Maryann and Virginia.
Annie received her secondary teaching credential in journalism from San Francisco State in 1962. She taught in the Richmond Unified School District for 20 years, at Roosevelt Jr. High, El Cerrito High, and finally at Harry Ells High. She sponsored the newspaper and yearbook at both high schools and was proud to walk the picket line in the first teachers' strike in California in 1966. The Soo family moved to Oakland in 1963, where for many years they hosted many friends, relatives and exchange students at their home. In 1971-72, they sponsored an exchange student from Finland, Helja Antola, and in 1973-74, a young girl from Bogota, Colombia, Sonia Carvajal. Both became lifelong friends and "daughters" to Annie. From 1973 to 1984, they welcomed nephew John Soo into their home.
She is predeceased by her parents, Ah Bun and Lum Shee Shew, beloved husband, James Soo, brothers Gilbert and Bernard Shew, and half-sister Linda Shew. She is survived by daughters, Maryann (Scott Engers) and Virginia (Robert Kraencke), grandsons Wesley and Christopher Engers, step-mother, Lily Lung (Huey), sisters, Elizabeth Wong and Doris Shew, half-brothers Benjamin, Sherman, Wellman and Harvey Shew and their spouses and children. She is also survived by sister-in-law Phyllis Byrum, many nieces, nephews and their children who brought her so much happiness.
Annie loved to write, read, do needlepoint, collect stamps, go to musicals, cook, throw elaborate parties, and tell jokes. A seasoned traveler and avid photographer, she chronicled her world journeys in words and photos in her annual Christmas newsletters, which were eagerly awaited by hundreds of friends even when they arrived well into the new year. She volunteered with the Journalism Education Association, Northern California, the Chinese Historical Society of America, and WESTPEX Philatelic Society. In 2007, the CHSA honored her with the Annie Soo Spirit award, recognizing her decades of service. Her kindness, sense of humor, strength and positive attitude enabled her to live an active and long life. She will be missed by all whose lives were brighter by knowing her. Thank you especially for the love and care shown to Annie over the past eight years at the Pruneridge Residential Care Home.
Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation from 4-8 PM, Friday, March 16, at Grant Miller Mortuary, 2850 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 94609. Funeral services will be Saturday, March 17 (the 61st anniversary of the day she met her husband, Jim),at 11 AM at the mortuary followed by internment at Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, 94611. In lieu of flowers, her family respectfully requests you donate in her name to the Chinese Historical Society of America www.CHSA.org or Santa Clara Unified School District/Skills Plus, www.scusd.org.
Published in San Francisco Chronicle from March 15 to March 17, 2012.
Former resident of Oakland
June 9, 1926 - March 8, 2012
Annie Soo passed away peacefully from congestive heart failure at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. She was 85. The oldest of five children, Annie Shew was born in 1926 (the year of the Tiger) in Watsonville, Calif. The Shew family moved to San Jose, and then to Fresno, where Annie spent much of her childhood. After her mother died in 1937, Annie and her brother Gilbert lived with an aunt and uncle in Stockton for several years, and Annie helped to look after her cousin.
Annie attended Fresno Tech (now defunct) and then Fresno State on four scholarships, three of which were for journalism. After graduation from Fresno State, she worked for a year at the Atwater Signal weekly newspaper and a year for the Merced Sun-Star. She moved to San Francisco and worked for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1950 to 1956. She met James Soo on March 17, 1951, and two years later they were married. They had two daughters, Maryann and Virginia.
Annie received her secondary teaching credential in journalism from San Francisco State in 1962. She taught in the Richmond Unified School District for 20 years, at Roosevelt Jr. High, El Cerrito High, and finally at Harry Ells High. She sponsored the newspaper and yearbook at both high schools and was proud to walk the picket line in the first teachers' strike in California in 1966. The Soo family moved to Oakland in 1963, where for many years they hosted many friends, relatives and exchange students at their home. In 1971-72, they sponsored an exchange student from Finland, Helja Antola, and in 1973-74, a young girl from Bogota, Colombia, Sonia Carvajal. Both became lifelong friends and "daughters" to Annie. From 1973 to 1984, they welcomed nephew John Soo into their home.
She is predeceased by her parents, Ah Bun and Lum Shee Shew, beloved husband, James Soo, brothers Gilbert and Bernard Shew, and half-sister Linda Shew. She is survived by daughters, Maryann (Scott Engers) and Virginia (Robert Kraencke), grandsons Wesley and Christopher Engers, step-mother, Lily Lung (Huey), sisters, Elizabeth Wong and Doris Shew, half-brothers Benjamin, Sherman, Wellman and Harvey Shew and their spouses and children. She is also survived by sister-in-law Phyllis Byrum, many nieces, nephews and their children who brought her so much happiness.
Annie loved to write, read, do needlepoint, collect stamps, go to musicals, cook, throw elaborate parties, and tell jokes. A seasoned traveler and avid photographer, she chronicled her world journeys in words and photos in her annual Christmas newsletters, which were eagerly awaited by hundreds of friends even when they arrived well into the new year. She volunteered with the Journalism Education Association, Northern California, the Chinese Historical Society of America, and WESTPEX Philatelic Society. In 2007, the CHSA honored her with the Annie Soo Spirit award, recognizing her decades of service. Her kindness, sense of humor, strength and positive attitude enabled her to live an active and long life. She will be missed by all whose lives were brighter by knowing her. Thank you especially for the love and care shown to Annie over the past eight years at the Pruneridge Residential Care Home.
Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation from 4-8 PM, Friday, March 16, at Grant Miller Mortuary, 2850 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 94609. Funeral services will be Saturday, March 17 (the 61st anniversary of the day she met her husband, Jim),at 11 AM at the mortuary followed by internment at Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, 94611. In lieu of flowers, her family respectfully requests you donate in her name to the Chinese Historical Society of America www.CHSA.org or Santa Clara Unified School District/Skills Plus, www.scusd.org.
Published in San Francisco Chronicle from March 15 to March 17, 2012.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
