Barbara Lee Kuen Chu Obituary In Loving Memory of Barbara Lee Kuen Chu October 18, 1935 May 10, 2025 Barbara (or "Lee" as she sometimes liked to be called) was born in 1935 in Shanghai, where she lived until the Communist Party took over China, and her family moved to Hong Kong in 1949. Lee played the piano and excelled in sports, winning medals as a runner and champion ping pong player. After graduation from high school, she married William Chu, who established a textiles factory called Leicester Knitting Mills in Hong Kong, which imported wool from England and exported its manufactured wool sweaters to Western Europe. Barbara loved languages, spoke three dialects in Chinese, was fluent in English, and also learned French while being housewife to William and mother to three children in Hong Kong, Eric, Elaine, and Vivian. In the late 60's, political unrest in Hong Kong, caused by the Cultural Revolution in China, urged William to send Barbara and their children to live in England, where the children attended boarding schools for two years. Sadly William died within two years after they returned back to Hong Kong. A year later, Barbara and her children immigrated to Canada, where her sister and brother-in-law lived. They flew into "Winter-peg" in the middle of November, where there were already piles of snow and sub-zero temperatures. Barbara quickly asked around, "Where's the warmest place in Canada?" and people told her, "Victoria." So, she went to Victoria the following spring, bought a home, and moved the children to Victoria when their schools finished. Life in Canada was very different than in Hong Kong, and Barbara became very self-reliant and met life's challenges with a "can-do" attitude, keeping her equanimity and motto, "Bend with the wind." In Victoria, she developed an interest in modeling and fashion, and had part-time modeling job at Eatons and Miss Frith, both non-existent now. Barbara never re-married, and continued to be a caring and giving mother to three teenagers, who all went to university and had professional careers. Barbara was predeceased by her elder daughter Elaine, a Registered Nurse, who was devoted to taking excellent care of her until dementia progressed and she had to reside in LTC. In the final year of Barbara's life, youngest daughter Vivian moved her to live in Parksville, where they shared many fun outings to community events, farmers markets, artisan fairs, music and cultural festivals, attended church together, and enjoyed countless gastronomical indulgences at sushi and seafood restaurants as well as at Vivian's home over the weekends. At 89 years old, despite dementia, Barbara could still have periodic lucid conversations with Vivian, and amazingly, Barbara was able to play ping-pong at the Bradley center, and she loved playing Mahjong with Vivian. Barbara's parting gift to Vivian is a hand-knitted pink blanket for "Vivian's future dog," which Vivian and her future dog will surely cherish. The bond of love between Barbara and daughter Vivian endures into eternity with the grace of God. Vivian will be holding a Celebration of Life for her Mom in June.