Andy Leung

The story

Due to COVID-19, we will not be having a memorial service for Andy. However, he did request a gathering for a meal in his memory at a later date. We will be sending out specific details once restrictions ease. If you could leave a story or a memory below for his grandchildren, it would be greatly appreciated.

Andrew Cheong Leung, age 90, passed away peacefully on February 1, 2022 in the comfort of home, surrounded by family. Although his condition declined throughout January, he persevered until Chinese New Year, his favourite day of the year.

Andy was born on April 19, 1931 in Port Louis, Mauritius. The oldest of 9 children, he spent much of his early years helping his parents with the younger siblings and working in the family shop "la boutique". As a teenager and young adult, he loved basketball and sports, and he once won 3rd place in a body-building contest. His nickname in Mauritius was "Tarzan".

In 1958, by stroke of luck, Andy won 2 portions of a lottery group play. He always thanked Père Laval for this win because it was his way out into a new world. He boarded a passenger ship in August of that year with a group of Mauritians, some of whom became life-long friends.

In London, Andy worked at John Lewis by day while studying electrical engineering in the evening. In 1962, he found a job at the GPO (London's General Post Office). One year later, another opportunity arose and he made the decision to move to Canada.

Andy arrived in Vancouver in the fall of 1963 and immediately fell in love with the city. The mountains, parks, beaches, even the rain were all so beautiful to him, and over the next two decades he convinced the older of his siblings to come and settle in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In turn, they convinced the younger ones and by 1985, the entire Leung family was in Vancouver. They spent many summers camping together, enjoying Christmas parties and celebrating various occasions together. He is survived by his brothers, sisters and their spouses: Therese, George & Florise, Maryse & John, Joe, Marit, Cyril & Rita, Francois & Jenny.

By another stroke of luck during his first week in Vancouver, as Andy was about to apply for an electrician course, he was sent instead to write a telecommunications test at BC Tel (known today as Telus). He did well on this test and ended up working for the company for over 30 years. As Andy was one of the first Mauritians to settle in Vancouver, he had the honor of hosting many families in his home while they looked for work and housing. Some of these Mauritians were family of family, some were friends of family; all became part of a community that felt like home away from home.

Andy lived a full and joyful life and told his children many times that he was a lucky man. He travelled the world with his wife, Anne, and within their Mauritian community, they had weekly social events and dancing during their younger years. He always had an interest in health books, plants, Chinese medicine and he loved musicals and songs from the 60's.

Along with his wife, Andy leaves behind his two children, Marilyn and Maurice, who owe everything they have today to his vision and his constant planning for their future and the future of their families. He instilled in them the concept of hard work and "saving for a rainy day.” He also leaves behind his son-in-law, Philippe, who shared his love of woodworking and gardening, and his beloved daughter-in-law, Jung, who patiently listened to his stories, cooked for him and brightened every day of his life. His five grandchildren: Samuel, Sheldon, Sophie, Leah and Alyssa will dearly miss their Koung Koung.

Andy had no specific requests for donations. However, if you wish, in lieu of flowers, please feel free to donate to St. Paul's Foundation (Heart/Cardiac) as he was grateful for all they did when he had his surgery there in 2015. https://helpstpauls.com/

With love,

Anne, Marilyn & Philippe, Maurice & Jung

Memory wall

3 tributes have been left in memory of Andy Leung.

• antoinekwok

  🕯 We are all very sad to learn about the passing of Andy (RIP). He was such a nice person, easy to talk to, and we do admire him of being a great husband to Anne, a super dad to Marilyn & Philippe, Maurice & Jung, and a wonderful koung koung to the grandchildren. Now he is watching over all of us from above. Andy was a mentor and a great friend to me. Everytime we met, he would give me advice, encourage me, and he spoke about his experience of life in general. He has been influenced by his late mom whom l have a deep respect for. She also used to provide useful advice to me. Andy used to speak about his humble background in Mauritius, and about how he went to study in England and came to settle in Vancouver. He always worked hard to provide for the family. Andy was a learned man, fully embracing the philosophy of chinese culture, inspired by Confucius and Lao Tzu on the chinese way of life. We will miss him a lot, will treasure his friendship, advice, and not the least his writings which he gave us on our last get together at Maurice's place last year on advice, thoughts and life. We will all keep the good memories of quality time spent with Andy, alive. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten. Much love, Antoine, Patricia, and family

• rosehill

  Anne, Marilyn & Philippe, Maurice & Jung: What a fitting tribute for Andy. We’ll always remember him as a trailblazer and perfect role model who impacted our lives in a positive way. Sincere condolences to you all. May the outpouring of love and support from your family and friends give you the strength and courage to cope with your loss. God Bless. Philip, Marie-Claude and Christopher Lan

• fleongsit

  Dear Anne, Marilyn, Philippe, Maurice, Jung, Samuel, Sheldon, Sophie, Leah and Alyssa: I do hope that all of you are keeping well and staying strong. I am going to tell you a little bit of how long I have known Andy. Many of you probably know a lot already. His mother, Piang Pak Meh was a very close friend of my mother. I knew Andy when I was about 7 years old. He used to go with uncle Laval and later with my brother for bodybuilding at Blue and White body building club. Being the eldest child in his family, he worked extremely hard in his teenage years and beyond. He did a lot of sacrifice for his family. The first time I met Andy in British Columbia was in the summer of 1969. I was on my fourth year in medicine and I got an externship job at Riverview Psychiatric Hospital at Essondale, Coquitlam, in BC. I was able to stay at Andy‘s house in Burnaby for several days during that summer. I felt so much at home in his house then. He was the pioneer of the Chinese Mauritians in British Columbia. When I and aunt Ah-Yen finally immigrated to Canada in 1973, there were still very few Chinese Mauritians in the greater Vancouver area. Every year for Christmas, Andy would be inviting all the Chinese Mauritians around to have a Christmas party at his house. We had lots of food, fun, wine and dancing. At that time Andy loved dancing; he loved sweet red wine and sherry. We all had a great time and got to know each other. He made a list of the Chinese Mauritians coming to the Vancouver area and he would tell us which number we were from his list! He was always there to help out newcomers and gave them good tips and advice about the Canadian life, what make of car to buy, where to rent an apartment. His house would also be where newcomers from Mauritius would stay for a week or two until an accommodation was found! That was how generous and helpful he was. Let me talk about one memorable personal encounter years ago when we visited him in his custom built Burnaby house. Andy gave us some boiled quail eggs. He also showed us his live quails that he reared in his backyard. The boiled mouthful little eggs tasted so nice and that was the first time we ate quail eggs. I was fascinated with the live quails. Having sensed my excitement about those quails, Andy gave us a few live quails on our way home and taught us how to raise them. We did and we were so proud to collect quail eggs and enjoy them for a few years! He was kind, selfless, humble, generous, honest, always there for a helping hand well-liked by everybody. We are so lucky to have been a part of his life. We miss him a lot. God bless him and God bless all of you. Ah-Kee Leong Sit

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