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Jean B. Lumb, C.M., 1919-2002
Jean Lumb (nee Wong), one of
12 children, was born in Nanaimo, B.C. in 1919. She left school
at the age of 12 to work and support her family. In 1935 at age
17, she moved to Toronto and opened her own grocery store. She
married Doyle Lumb, her husband of 50 years. The mother of six
children and grandmother of nine grandchildren, Jean Lumb was
the co-owner and Director of the Kwong Chow Restaurant in Toronto
for 23 years.
Jean Lumb was the first Chinese
Canadian woman and the first restaurateur to receive the Order
of Canada for her tireless community work. Most notably, she
was recognized for her pivotal role in changing Canada's immigration
laws that separated Chinese families in 1957 and for her contribution
in saving Chinatowns in Toronto and other cities. Renowned as
a community spokesperson of dynamic energy, she has also been
honoured with many other awards, including the Queen's Silver
Jubilee Award, the Governor General's Award, the City of Toronto
Award of Merit, YWCA Woman of Change Honour Roll, Order of the
Knights of Rizal, Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Queen's
Golden Jubilee Award, the last two awarded posthumously.
Jean Lumb was very active in
community work throughout her life. She achieved many firsts:
First Chinese woman on the board of governors of the Women's
College Hospital; First Chinese woman on the board of University
Settlement House; First Chinese restaurateur and first woman
to receive the Fran Deck Award for outstanding achievement in
Toronto's restaurant industry; First Chinese-Canadian woman to
sit on the Board of Rotary-Laughlen Centre. She also served as
Director and Honourary Advisor of the Yee Hong Chinese Nursing
Home for Greater Toronto and the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater
Toronto. Her seven-year term as Citizenship Court Judge brought
her great joy to preside over hundreds of new Canadians taking
the Oath of Citizenship and becoming Canadian citizens.
In 1996, the Jean Lumb Awards
were established to honour her contribution to the community.
Four high school students of Chinese heritage are recognized
annually for excellence in Academic Achievement, Community Service,
Athletics and the Arts.
Arlene Chan, a retired librarian,
has authored three children's books. Awakening the Dragon: the
Dragon Boat Festival, published by Tundra Books in 2002, launched
her passion for dragon boating. Her two earlier books are The
Spirit of the Dragon: The Story of Jean Lumb, a Proud Chinese
Canadian, selected as a Choice Book by the Canadian Children's
Book Centre, and The Moon Festival: A Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival,
shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award. Her next book that she
is co-editing with Susan Humphries for publication in 2009 by
Dundurn Press will be on dragon boat racing in Canada.
Arlene is currently serving
as the President of the Jean Lumb Foundation and an Appointee
to the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers Advisory Council, Ontario
Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
arlenelumbchan@hotmail.com | www.arlenechan.com
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