Post by NZBC on Jun 8, 2013 23:11:48 GMT 12
George Gee QSO
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Lu Lowe Jor, born 11th November 1921 in Palmerston North, died 27th March 1984 in Wellington, eldest son of Timothy Louis Gee and Wing Ling Gee (nee Lowe) of Bak Shek village
機
機機
機
祈
祈祈
祈
娯
娯娯
娯
.
In the year 1906, Timothy Louis Gee, immigrated to New Zealand, arriving on the USS Monowai on the 28th
March in his quest to find a better way of life and paid the Poll Tax on entry. His descendants will always be indebted to him for the opportunities and lifestyles that they lead today.
Timothy, after settling down, later returned to his village in China to get married to a local girl also from
his village, Wing Ling Lowe, and they both returned to NewZealand and settled in Palmerston North where
they had a market garden. Together, they raised six children – George, Irene, Jack, Joan, Dora and Keith.
In 1937, Timothy planned to take his family back to the village in China for a visit but with the outbreak
of war, this was postponed and instead moved his family to Petone where he bought a fruit and vegetable business. He later bought a second shop for George and Irene to manage.
In 1940, George married Dorothy Bing from Blenheim and they had a son Brian, born in 1941. In 1942, George was
enlisted into the New Zealand Army, which was compulsory in those war years, and made the rank of
corporal. Unfortunately he had an accident and was discharged in 1943. The government later gave him a pension for this injury of 10 shillings a week!
Back in “civvy street”, George aided by Dorothy, settled back into business and daughter, Priscilla, was
born in 1947. As the family grew, his involvement in the community also grew. He served on the Petone
Central School Parent Teacher Association when his children attended the school and was madePresident in 1952. In later years he was also a member of the Petone Businessmen’s Association, theWellington Fruit Retailer’s Association, and the New Zealand Fruiterers Federation. He was involved with the Wellington Anglican Chinese Mission Church and was their representative at the Wellington Diocesan Synod and of course, he was in the Tung Jung Association committee from 1964 to 1968 when he had to give up owing to mayoral commitments.
The following extracts are taken from an article written shortly after George passed away:
Local Body involvement began in 1965 when George was elected into the PetoneBorough Council and became Mayor in 1968. He served for 12 years but did not seekre-election because of ill health. During his time
in the Mayoralty, George served as an executive member of the Municipal Association of New Zealand from 1973 to 1980 and as vice president in 1976 to 1978. He was also on many other ad hoc boardsincluding:
•Director of NZ Municipalities Cooperative InsuranceCo. Ltd. From 1974 – 1980
•NZ Milk Board from 1978 – 1980
•Member of Hutt Milk Corporation from 1968 to become Chairman and Managing Di-rector in 1975
George Gee—first Mayor in NZ of Chinese descent
Timothy Louis Gee’s family 1942
Rear: Joan Jack Baby Brian Dorothy George
Irene
Front: Wing Ling Dora Keith Timothy
In 1945, George was awarded the New Zealand ServiceMedal and the New Zealand Defence
Medal. In 1977, he was given the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal and in 1981 was bestowed with the Queen’s Service Order (QSO).
Due to ill health, George and Dorothy retired from the family business in 1981. They owned abach at Raumati and George, being a handy man, built a Chinese style BBQ that could roast awhole pig. On his first attempt, he asked Willie Wong to help him and the crackling was superb.
He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and playing mah jong with his friends. George
passed away on 27th March 1984 and Dorothy now resides at the Shona MacFarlane Retirement Village in Lower Hutt.
The Shandon Golf Club of which George was the Patron for many years holds an annual tournament in his honour. Many thanks go to David Fung for organising this. The men play for theGeorge Gee Memorial Cup while the women play for the James Luey Memorial Cup donated by his daughter Pam Kohing. James Luey, known to manyas Uncle Jim, was a long serving member of the Shandon Golf Club. The Tung Jung Association also support the tournament by
sponsoring their own Tung Jung trophy.The Tung Jung Experience:
As a boy, Brian recalls his father taking him to the Tung Jung clubrooms in Frederick Street in
Wellington, to celebrate the Ching Ming Festival. His grandfather and his two uncles went with
him, as in those days, only the men were allowed to go to these functions. The stairway to go upstairs was steep, above of which was mounted a huge stag’s head and at the end of the largeroom upstairs was a large pedestal fan. The walls were covered with photos of past and currentmembers which were there to raise funds. The bigger the donation, the larger the photo! There were tables laid out to seat 8 people and you could
sit where you wished. The meal was a lavish 10 course dinner prepared by the Tung Jung members,
many of whom had their own specialities. Willie Wong’s father was the roast pork specialist while Mr. Ching Hing, as Brian recalls,made the best fish balls (this was before the daysof the electric mixer!). After the meal, Mr.George Ting (Freda Luey’s father) would auction off the surplus food which had not been served
up along with the pork bones for soup or congee. A good time was had by all and in later years,the ladies were allowed to join the celebrations as they do today.
Written by Gordon Wu in consultation with Brian Gee
.
www.tungjung.org.nz/images/stories/newsletters/2009/Complete_winter_2009_edition.pdf
繋
繋繋
繋
昃
昃昃
昃
窟
窟窟
窟
Lu Lowe Jor, born 11th November 1921 in Palmerston North, died 27th March 1984 in Wellington, eldest son of Timothy Louis Gee and Wing Ling Gee (nee Lowe) of Bak Shek village
機
機機
機
祈
祈祈
祈
娯
娯娯
娯
.
In the year 1906, Timothy Louis Gee, immigrated to New Zealand, arriving on the USS Monowai on the 28th
March in his quest to find a better way of life and paid the Poll Tax on entry. His descendants will always be indebted to him for the opportunities and lifestyles that they lead today.
Timothy, after settling down, later returned to his village in China to get married to a local girl also from
his village, Wing Ling Lowe, and they both returned to NewZealand and settled in Palmerston North where
they had a market garden. Together, they raised six children – George, Irene, Jack, Joan, Dora and Keith.
In 1937, Timothy planned to take his family back to the village in China for a visit but with the outbreak
of war, this was postponed and instead moved his family to Petone where he bought a fruit and vegetable business. He later bought a second shop for George and Irene to manage.
In 1940, George married Dorothy Bing from Blenheim and they had a son Brian, born in 1941. In 1942, George was
enlisted into the New Zealand Army, which was compulsory in those war years, and made the rank of
corporal. Unfortunately he had an accident and was discharged in 1943. The government later gave him a pension for this injury of 10 shillings a week!
Back in “civvy street”, George aided by Dorothy, settled back into business and daughter, Priscilla, was
born in 1947. As the family grew, his involvement in the community also grew. He served on the Petone
Central School Parent Teacher Association when his children attended the school and was madePresident in 1952. In later years he was also a member of the Petone Businessmen’s Association, theWellington Fruit Retailer’s Association, and the New Zealand Fruiterers Federation. He was involved with the Wellington Anglican Chinese Mission Church and was their representative at the Wellington Diocesan Synod and of course, he was in the Tung Jung Association committee from 1964 to 1968 when he had to give up owing to mayoral commitments.
The following extracts are taken from an article written shortly after George passed away:
Local Body involvement began in 1965 when George was elected into the PetoneBorough Council and became Mayor in 1968. He served for 12 years but did not seekre-election because of ill health. During his time
in the Mayoralty, George served as an executive member of the Municipal Association of New Zealand from 1973 to 1980 and as vice president in 1976 to 1978. He was also on many other ad hoc boardsincluding:
•Director of NZ Municipalities Cooperative InsuranceCo. Ltd. From 1974 – 1980
•NZ Milk Board from 1978 – 1980
•Member of Hutt Milk Corporation from 1968 to become Chairman and Managing Di-rector in 1975
George Gee—first Mayor in NZ of Chinese descent
Timothy Louis Gee’s family 1942
Rear: Joan Jack Baby Brian Dorothy George
Irene
Front: Wing Ling Dora Keith Timothy
In 1945, George was awarded the New Zealand ServiceMedal and the New Zealand Defence
Medal. In 1977, he was given the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal and in 1981 was bestowed with the Queen’s Service Order (QSO).
Due to ill health, George and Dorothy retired from the family business in 1981. They owned abach at Raumati and George, being a handy man, built a Chinese style BBQ that could roast awhole pig. On his first attempt, he asked Willie Wong to help him and the crackling was superb.
He enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and playing mah jong with his friends. George
passed away on 27th March 1984 and Dorothy now resides at the Shona MacFarlane Retirement Village in Lower Hutt.
The Shandon Golf Club of which George was the Patron for many years holds an annual tournament in his honour. Many thanks go to David Fung for organising this. The men play for theGeorge Gee Memorial Cup while the women play for the James Luey Memorial Cup donated by his daughter Pam Kohing. James Luey, known to manyas Uncle Jim, was a long serving member of the Shandon Golf Club. The Tung Jung Association also support the tournament by
sponsoring their own Tung Jung trophy.The Tung Jung Experience:
As a boy, Brian recalls his father taking him to the Tung Jung clubrooms in Frederick Street in
Wellington, to celebrate the Ching Ming Festival. His grandfather and his two uncles went with
him, as in those days, only the men were allowed to go to these functions. The stairway to go upstairs was steep, above of which was mounted a huge stag’s head and at the end of the largeroom upstairs was a large pedestal fan. The walls were covered with photos of past and currentmembers which were there to raise funds. The bigger the donation, the larger the photo! There were tables laid out to seat 8 people and you could
sit where you wished. The meal was a lavish 10 course dinner prepared by the Tung Jung members,
many of whom had their own specialities. Willie Wong’s father was the roast pork specialist while Mr. Ching Hing, as Brian recalls,made the best fish balls (this was before the daysof the electric mixer!). After the meal, Mr.George Ting (Freda Luey’s father) would auction off the surplus food which had not been served
up along with the pork bones for soup or congee. A good time was had by all and in later years,the ladies were allowed to join the celebrations as they do today.
Written by Gordon Wu in consultation with Brian Gee
.
www.tungjung.org.nz/images/stories/newsletters/2009/Complete_winter_2009_edition.pdf