Mae Chan was born in San Francisco on April 8, 1917, the oldest of three daughters. She grew up on Beckett Street in Chinatown. When she was six years old, Mae went with her mother to the family village in China. Although she was a U.S. citizen, she remembers staying at Angel Island for almost six months before they got approval to go home.
She went to Commodore Stockton Elementary School and Francisco Junior High. Mae’s father owned a retail store in San Francisco. The family moved to Watsonville when he opened his second store called Jang & Company. Later, he would open a third store in Sacramento. During this time, Mae got her AA degree from Salinas Community College; then transferred to San Jose State to study business. Mae liked the fact that her father had retail stores. “I could get free nylon stockings,” she said with a smile.
When Mae was a young girl, a suitor proposed to her. But she declined his offer, partly because he was only a clerk at the Dollar Store. A relative then arranged for Mae to meet Eddie Chan. “I thought he was nice looking.” Their first date was to the California State Fair. She liked the fact that Eddie’s family had a grocery business, General Produce. Mae loved avocados; and if she married him, she’d get free avocados all the time! In March 1941, they drove to Reno to get married. Then, they turned right around to Sacra-mento to eat dinner with Eddie’s family.
In the 1980s, Mae and her two sisters (Mildred and Catherine) opened a restaurant called Chopstix Express. They eventually sold it, as Mae got tired of the work and it took time away from her favorite activity, playing mah jong. Besides mah jong, Mae’s other passions are traveling and playing the stock market. “For years, the first thing she did in the morning was check how her stocks were doing. She’d have weekly calls with her broker. She likes tech stocks,” says her daughter Victoria.
When she reflects back on her 102 years, she says “My daughter Victoria makes me very happy. I’m glad we traveled to Hong Kong to adopt her.” Mae is also grateful that two of her friends, Fannie Wong and Mabelle Jan, are also centenarians. “We just had lunch at Happy Corner Restaurant to celebrate my birthday.” What’s her secret to living this long? She laughed, “Playing mah jong seven days a week! I’d still be playing if I could see better.” These days, macular degeneration may have impaired her vision, but not her sense of humor.
I love the sweet humor and kindness of this woman. Very aptly captured in the write up. Great to see all these Centenarians alive and, if not kicking, at least playing mah jong!!