Click Here to View and Download the Virtual Memorial Service held for Forina Ching

Starting life in a typical Hong Kong family on August 23, 1969, Forina (Ching Yu) Ching lived an extraordinary life in both her birth place and later the beautiful California where she started her new family. Forina passed away peacefully on July 10, 2020 at Regional Medical Center in San Jose California after a courageous battle with cancer diagnosed in September 2019.

She might be a petite girl on the outside but for those who knew her well, she was a very resilient person and had never said no to any challenge in both life and work. However, while she was only being tough on herself most of the times, she was a very kind, caring and loving person and she always had unconditional love for her family.

In the fight with this terrible disease, she was always calm and positive and comforted everyone around her. Even in defeat, she was happy to join her loving mom in heaven. Surviving Forina is her father Hong Sang Ching, her brothers Chung Yu Ching, Kwok Yu Ching and her sisters Chui Yu Ching and Chiu Yu Ching. She is also survived by me, Chin Pang Kwan, the luckiest man in the world to marry this wonderful woman 21 years ago, as well as our precious son Antony Kwan. She was the second youngest in the Ching family and as described by her elder sister, she was the champion in the family. Forina had achieved the Master of Philosophy degree in Statistics in Hong Kong University, the best in Hong Kong. This was happening while her mother had suffered from a stroke in the most unfortunate time of 1989 and needed a lot of care. Forina stepped up and took good care of her mom while achieved the great academic result.

When she joined the current company where she and I had worked for more than 25 years, I also met my most significant person in my life and of course that was Forina. It was love at first sight and after I got to know her more, there was absolutely no doubt that she’s just the best ever. Putting all the personal preference aside, I had the most respect for her professionally. I had seen her thrive even in very challenging business situations but behind the scene, she was always putting in her best and in all the times, I couldn’t resist the Z-monster while she continued to finish her work even it was late hours. Despite her non-technical background, she learned programming on her own and became expert in different technical tools much faster than other colleagues and she always became the go-to person. However tough she was, again, anyone knew her long enough would not forget her signature laughter in the office. She always brought cheer, encouragement and the can-do spirit to everyone around her, even in the most uncertain time. Anyone who had ever worked with her, inside or outside of the company, were all deeply impressed with her professionalism and friendliness.

As her friends, everyone would also know her care and generosity and she always had the best ideas to gather everyone. You might remember the countless parties or activities that she hosted or organized. No matter whether they were holiday themed or just a birthday party or just for fun, she did her best in every aspect and always thought of some funny games and interesting activities. All she wanted was that everyone could have a good time and enjoy the friendship. Lilian Po, one of her best friend during the school time, shared the story when Forina invited her and another friend who worked together in a summer job, to her house to have lunch instead of eating junk food outside. From a grassroots family at that time, Lilian deeply appreciated the kindness and hospitality of Forina and her mom. I’m sure there were more stories to be shared and no doubt everyone would miss her as a good friend.

I would not hesitate to say again that I was the luckiest man in the world and she was my best partner and companion. Being a new family in an unfamiliar place with only a handful of new friends, there were a lot of challenges. I was really far from being a mature or successful person. I remembered I lost all my hair due to stress while we were dating. She continued to support me during the difficult time and I’m forever grateful. She was the one who gave me all the courage and energy to achieve what I thought were the impossible. I confessed that I did not listen to all her suggestions even though I knew those were for the best of me. She had the best patience, even it was decades of time. When we had our son, it was really the toughest time for us as new mom and dad. She devoted tremendous love to him and took good care of every aspect along his growth. To be honest, there were a lot of ups and downs and we were far from being the perfect parents and especially for Forina, she still had worries. It is still a long road for him but we were both happy that he has grown to be a kind person. Forina once said it was the happiest time in her life to see the birth of our son and even she is now up there, she will always watch out for Antony.

In memory of our beloved Forina in this difficult time of Covid-19 pandemic, we had a simple funeral service conducted in Cantonese at Willow Glen Funeral Home in San Jose, California to have family members and some close friends in United States to join on Sunday July 26.  A separate online memorial via gatheringus.com to be hosted on July 31 6pm-8:30pm PDT (August 1 9am-11:30am HKT) so that friends and families from overseas in addition to those from the west coast can also join. This event will be hosted in English but individuals may speak in the language they are comfortable with. Invitations will be sent shortly.