Quon, Emma
Emma Quon (née Lee) was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. Her father immigrated to Canada in 1898 and her mother in 1913. Emma had a busy social life in Montreal, taking part in many church and extra-curricular activities. She married Harry Quon in the late 1930s, and the young couple ran an inn in Port McNicoll, Ontario. After returning to Montreal, Emma became very active in community work as a founding member of the Canadian Chinese Cultural Society of Montreal, a member of the Credit Women’s Breakfast Club, and as part of a group committed to the re-location of the Chinese Hospital. In 1996, Emma moved to Alberta to be close to her daughter.
Emma Quon stands behind her mother, Chin Ng Hai, in this candid photograph. Chin Ng Hai was an orphan in China who was selected by Emma's uncle as a wife for her father, Lee Wah Yuen. She was brought to Canada in 1913, with no knowledge of the local languages or cultures. Widowed in 1937, the mother of eight ran a restaurant to support the family. Emma thinks her mother did ‘exceedingly well’ as a Chinese Canadian woman of her time.
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