Yiu Hai Seto Quon
Yiu Hai Seto Quon | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 30, 1899 |
| Died | July 9, 1999 (aged 99) |
Yiu Hai Seto Quon (October 30, 1899 – July 9, 1999), also known as "Mama Quon", was a Chinese-American chef, businesswoman, and community leader in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Early life[edit]
As a young woman in China, Yiu Hai Seto married Him Gin Quon, an American resident whose father Quon Soon Doon (關崇俊) owned a restaurant in the city's Chinatown neighborhood.[1] She stayed in Guangdong, China after Him Gin Quon returned to California; their first daughter Katherine was born there in 1917. She and Katherine joined Him Gin Quon in Los Angeles in 1922.[2]
Career[edit]
Quon and her husband opened a restaurant with their sons Frank and Wallace, the Quon Brothers Grand Star Restaurant, in 1946.[3] Mrs. Quon was the chef at the restaurant for many years, adapting Chinese dishes for both Chinese and American diners.[4] She remained active in the kitchen and welcoming guests at Grand Star into her nineties,[5] until a broken hip in 1997 left her too frail to continue.[6][7]
In her later years, Yiu Hai Quon was often celebrated as a community fixture. In 1984, she featured in a photo exhibit of nine prominent Chinese-American women in Los Angeles, on view at the Kennedy Library at California State University at Los Angeles.[8] She was one of three women honored by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in the fiftieth anniversary parade in Chinatown in 1988.[9] And in 1994, she was one of four Chinese-American women spotlighted in a public art project by photographer Carol Nye.[10]
Personal life and legacy[edit]
The Quons were parents of nine children, seven daughters and two sons. Yiu Hai Seto Quon was widowed in 1965. She died in the summer of 1999, in Montebello, California; her age at death was variously reported as 99, 101, or 102 years.[11] Her son Wallace Quon, her grandsons Tony Quon and Larry Jung, and her great-grandson Jason Fujimoto have all served on the board of the Los Angeles Chinatown Corporation.[12]
The Grand Star is still in business in Chinatown, now as a bar and jazz club.[13] Stories of Yiu Hai Seto Quon and the Grand Star restaurant are the focus of Natasha Uppal's 2004 short documentary, "One Night at the Grand Star".[14]
References[edit]
- ^ Jenny Cho, Chinatown in Los Angeles (Arcadia Publishing 2009): 27.
- ^ Myrna Oliver, "'Mama' Quon: Chinatown Restaurateur" Los Angeles Times (July 16, 1999).
- ^ Icy Smith, The Lonely Queue (East West Discovery Press 2001): 1937. ISBN 9780970165411
- ^ Myrna Oliver, "'Mama' Quon: Chinatown Restaurateur" Los Angeles Times (July 16, 1999).
- ^ Maureen Michelson, Women and Work: In Their Own Words (New Sage Press 1994): 14. ISBN 9780939165230
- ^ "LA Chinatown Matriarch Dies" Asian Week (July 28, 1999).
- ^ Diane Seo, "Sundown for Chinatown?" Los Angeles Times (November 1, 1992): 24.
- ^ Sheri Tan, "9 Chinese American Women Who Helped Improve Life in Los Angeles" Asian Week (April 6, 1984): 14.
- ^ Karen Lew, "Dragon Puts On Its Dancin' Shoes" Asian Week (February 5, 1988): 14.
- ^ Tommy Li, "Chinatown Photographer Pays Tribute to 4 Women" Los Angeles Times (August 14, 1994): 6.
- ^ Stephen Lemons, "Lounging at the Grand Star" LA Downtown News (December 16, 2002).
- ^ Los Angeles Chinatown Corporation website.
- ^ Website of the Grand Star Jazz Club.
- ^ Natasha Uppal, "One Night at the Grand Star" PBS Independent Lens (2004).