Kitty Hin Mie Chan's Obituary
Kitty Hin Mie Chan was born on July 22, 1947 in Shanghai, China, and grew up in Hong Kong as the youngest of three daughters to Man Kai and Pui Chun Choy. She attended Pui Ching High School and Hong Kong Baptist College, where she majored in Secretarial Studies and met her future husband. Upon graduation, she worked as the secretary of the Music Department at the Chinese University in Kowloon, Hong Kong. She and Antony (Tony) married in 1973 and immigrated to Honolulu in 1974.
As new immigrants, Kitty and Tony worked hard to raise and provide for their two children. Kitty was a working mom, juggling duties at home and work. She first worked as a bookkeeper at a CPA firm, and then used her experience to help Tony form and operate their own accounting and bookkeeping business for many years. She also handled the accounting of their real-estate business since 1980, and then in 1990, co-founded Tony Chan Realty, Inc. with her husband.
While she was a diligent and hard-worker, Kitty’s heart was centered on family and community relationships. She was often described as kind, gentle, easy-going, and satisfied with simple pleasures. She got along easily with friends, had close relationships with her in-laws, was a warm, loving, and generous mother, and was a devoted and faithful wife and constant companion to Tony.
When her children had children of their own, Kitty gave of herself sacrificially and wholeheartedly in this next stage of motherhood and of being a grandmother. On multiple occasions, she dropped everything for weeks or months at a time to go to California to help care for her children and grandchildren in times of need, overcoming challenges and obstacles along the way.
Kitty enjoyed quiet activities such as crafts, reading novels, watching TV, and doing Sudoku, but she also savored deep conversations and sharing detailed stories when she had the space and a captive audience. She enjoyed classical music and singing, especially during the years in which she sang soprano as part of church choirs.
Kitty was intimately involved in church community life. She was among the original members of the Honolulu Chinese Alliance Church, of which she was a member for 26 years. For the past 13 years, she has been a member of the Chinese Lutheran Church of Honolulu. She loved participating in fellowship groups, church choirs, and other expressions of church community. Traveling back to her motherland in 2005 opened her heart to supporting God’s work in different parts of the world, including Malawi, where her son’s family has been serving the Lord for the past 10 years.
Beyond her external activities, Kitty’s inner life was characterized by her faith in Jesus Christ. Although she often described herself as a simple person in a self-depreciating way, it was her simple trust and faith in Jesus that carried her through all that she encountered in life. Especially in the last few years when she suffered progressively from the debilitating effects of dementia, it was her steadfast dependence on Jesus which anchored her spirit and gave her the hope of eternal life in God’s presence. Amidst losing memory and different abilities, she never lost faith, but instead endured everything with God’s grace.
On Friday, September 15, 2023, after spending an intimate time with immediate family members, Kitty passed away peacefully while Tony sang and prayed for her and while her son held her hand.
Kitty is survived by her loving husband (Antony), daughter (Jennifer) and her children (Chiara and Carlo), son (Jeffrey) and daughter-in law (Clara) and their children (Elijin and Evadene), sisters (Sherie and Emily), and sisters-in-law (Amy and Amelia).
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