Eulogy from Nigel Murphy
MARIE CHUN nee TING
Good morning everyone and welcome. Thank you all for coming. It’s wonderful to see so many of you here today. I’m Nigel Murphy. I’m a friend of the Chun and Ting families and I’ve known Bill and Marie Chun and their family for over 25 years.
I will take a few minutes to share with you Marie’s life as well as her family background. Her son Neville, granddaughter Louise and brother-in-law Stan will then share their thoughts and memories of her.
. . .
Like many of her generation of Chinese New Zealand women Marie was private, unassuming, humble and most of all modest. Whether this modesty was a traditional Chinese trait or something taught to her by her Chinese New Zealand parents and grandparents, or whether it was just Marie, we’re not certain. But one thing is certain - while Marie may have felt that her life wasn’t very special or interesting, we all here believe her life was of great interest and of great value, and that is why we are all here today – to celebrate the life of Marie Chun.
Who was Marie Chun?
Marie Chun was born on 7 February 1927 in Wellington, the second of five children of Ted and Edna Ting. Her Chinese name was Chun Ying Shueng and her English name was Marie Ting. In Chinese her family name is Chun, while in English it’s Ting. So her real name is Chun. The reason her Chinese and English names are different is because when her grandfather arrived in New Zealand the Customs Department didn’t know what part of a Chinese person’s name was the surname. Her grandfather’s name was Chun Moon Ting, but the immigration officials thought that ‘Chun Moon’ were his first names, and ‘Ting’ was his family name, so they recorded his name as Ting, and the family has had Ting as their surname ever since.
Marie’s grandfather Chun Moon Ting – or James Chin Ting as he was more commonly known – was the patriarch and pioneer of the Ting family. He was born in 1869 in Sun Gai village in Jung Seng county, Guangdong Province in China. In 1886, aged 17, he came to New Zealand, one of the earliest Jung Seng people to come here. He arrived at Dunedin hoping to go goldmining but soon found goldmining was not to his liking and he opened a grocery and fruitshop - a typical Jung Seng New Zealand occupation at the time. Sometime in the early 1890s he moved to Pahiatua where he opened another shop. In 1894 he became a naturalised New Zealander and in 1897 he decided to get married. However he didn’t want to pay the poll tax on his wife that the New Zealand government had imposed on Chinese. He’d paid £10 poll tax when he’d arrived, but in 1896 the tax had been raised ten times to £100, which was a huge amount of money that he didn’t want to pay. He knew that the wives of naturalised Chinese didn’t have to pay the tax so he and his older brother Moon Chang came up with a scheme. Moon Chang was going home to China to get married so it was decided that he’d arrange to bring back a wife for Moon Ting as well. This was Marie’s grandmother, Ng Sing-ting. When the ship arrived at Wellington Marie’s grandfather married her grandmother on board ship before she landed, meaning she was legally married to a naturalised Chinese man and therefore did not have to pay the poll tax. This scheme proved successful and Marie’s grandmother didn’t have to pay the poll tax. This story shows the intelligence, ingenuity and cleverness of the Ting family – qualities that Marie herself inherited.
Marie’s grandparents went on to have 10 children, one of whom, Edward Chin Ting – or Ted - was Marie’s father. Ted Ting was born in Pahiatua in 1904. In 1907 the family moved to Wellington where they took over a shop in Manners St called Yee Chong Wing and Co. This moved to Courtenay Place and Chin Ting changed it into a seed shop later known as Te Aro Seed Co.
Marie’s grandfather Chin Ting was strongly committed to the Chinese community, becoming foundation president of the Chinese Association in 1910, and a founder and long-time president of the Tung Jung Association, an association established to look after the needs of Jung Seng people in New Zealand.
Marie’s Dad Ted was a very different person to his father. Being of a very independent nature he reacted against his father. He worked in his father’s business but he also worked as a carpenter and cabinet maker. He travelled the world as a deck hand visiting places such as Australia, the Pacific and America. This gave him an understanding of the world beyond the shores of New Zealand and his Chinese heritage, making him unusually open-minded for a young Chinese man of his era. He also liked the outdoor life, enjoying hunting, fishing and horseback riding around the north island.
In 1923 the 19 year old Ted married Marie’s mother - 18 year old Edna Moon Wong. Edna had been born in China but was the daughter of a Carterton store keeper, Wong Cho Ling. It was said to be a traditional arranged marriage. After marrying, the couple lived on the family property in Moxham and Ruahine Streets in Hataitai where Ted’s father had established a nursery and glasshouse. Ted and Edna went on to have five children: Betty, Evelyn, Albert, Pauline and of course Marie. Marie spent her early life on the Hataitai property. There are photos of her there, always looking very serious for some reason.
In 1932 seven year-old Betty and five year-old Marie were sent back to China with their granddad Chin Ting to receive some traditional Chinese education. It was standard in those days for Chinese New Zealand parents to send their kids to be educated in China so they wouldn’t turn into ‘pretend foreign devils.’ Marie and Betty spent the next six years in China and Kowloon, being looked after by their Mum’s grandfather. They returned to New Zealand with grandfather Ting in October 1938, one of the reasons being to escape the Japanese war in China. They came back with Marie’s Aunty Daisy – her Dad’s older sister.
When Marie returned to New Zealand she was sent back to school and had to start back in standard one – she didn’t like it! Being 12 at the time she would have been five or six years older than every one else, so no wonder she didn’t like it!
Marie’s Mum had returned to China sometime in the mid 1930s and didn’t return, so Marie and the other children were brought up by their Aunty Daisy. Another aunt, Estelle, married Bill Wong of Carterton. The Tings would often go and visit the Wongs in Carterton, enjoying the fun of being away from Wellington and in ‘the countryside’. Because of these happy times Marie and the Wongs always remained very close.
Once Marie finished her schooling she probably helped in the family businesses. While she’d been in China her father had bought a shop which he opened in opposition to his father – the Zenith Seed Company in Manners St.
In 1947 Marie was 20. There was a very lively young Chinese social scene in Wellington at that time, with balls, socials and sports. Marie was not so into sports but she enjoyed socialising and having parties. At that time there was a group of eligible young men – men like Jim Tso, Jimmy Joe, Young Chan, Joe Soon and many others. One of these eligible young men was a handsome 24 year old returned Air Force man named Bill Chun. Like Marie, Bill was New Zealand-born of Jung Seng parents – Mary and Yee Hop Chun. He was bright, motivated and ambitious, and was in charge of his own fruit shop in Kilbirnie. This had been called Sang Lee but after returning from war service in the Pacific Bill gave it the more modern and sophisticated name ‘Pacific Fruit Supply’.
Around this time Marie had also decided to train to be a nurse, and she graduated in 1950 as a New Zealand Registered Nurse. In 1952 she graduated as a New Zealand Registered Maternity Nurse. She worked at Wellington Hospital, rising to be a ward sister. Bill and Marie met around 1947 or so at a dinner party and very soon decided to get engaged. According to Bill’s brother Stan, Bill swept her of her feet and drove her around Wellington in a blue Ford V8 fruit shop truck. How romantic! During the war Bill had been a photographer. Maybe that’s another reason he liked Marie – her Chinese name ‘Ying Shueng’ sounds the same as the Cantonese term for photography!
In 1951 Bill bought the Zenith shop from Marie’s dad Ted. Bill wanted to turn Ted’s plant shop into a fruit shop to provide for his younger siblings – Bill was the oldest son of a family of 18 so there were plenty to look after! However he soon saw that the plant business was pretty good so he decided to divide the shop into two – one side selling plants and the other fruit and veggies. Bill and Marie had the plant side of the business.
In 1954 Bill and Marie finally got married. It’s said that they were both very busy with work and finally Marie’s father reminded them that they were engaged to be married and perhaps they should get on with it . . . so they did.
Marie stopped nursing about six months after the wedding to help Bill in the shop. Apparently when someone asked her ‘why are you giving up nursing?’ she said ‘I’m not giving up nursing, I’ll just be nursing plants now!’
Bill and Marie bought a house in Vogeltown and later moved to Strathmore. They had two sons, Neville and Danny, born in 1955 and 1960. In the early 60’s the family moved to Lower Hutt and in 1965 Bill and Marie opened the Zenith Garden Centre in Epuni Street. The Garden Centre was very successful and a second centre was opened in Park Avenue. After 40 very successful years – 72 years actually – if you add the years Zeniths was run by Marie’s father Ted – the Zenith Garden Centres finally closed in 2005.
Throughout all this Marie worked with Bill to run the business and bring up the family, devoting herself completely to these tasks. Bill and Marie were a great team and a very devoted couple. Without Marie Bill could not have achieved what he did. She had an amazing work ethic. She worked every day at the garden centre when it was open – some 50 years in all, and was still working right up to the close of the shop in 2005.
Although Bill enjoyed sport and there was a swimming pool and tennis court at the family home in Lower Hutt, Marie did not do those sports. She was a natural at table tennis, however, and apparently had a mean backhand. It’s said that she did go to the gym every day – a gym called Zeniths! Carting those bags of garden stuff around every day is as good as going to the gym!
Marie was also the perfect hostess and the perfect housewife. Stan says he never saw a speck of dust at Bill and Marie’s house, and that everything was always spick and span and perfectly arranged. Marie herself was always immaculately dressed, even when wearing her work smock! That’s the sort of person she was.
She was always welcoming and could whip up a feast at a moment’s notice. It always seemed like magic but was just a testament to her work, skill and efficiency.
Her cooking skills were awe-inspiring – both in the Chinese and European styles - and her baking – scones, biscuits, cookies, cakes and especially sponges – were legendary.
As well as family and work she enjoyed knitting – especially for her grandchildren once they started arriving. She also liked floral art and playing the electric keyboard with brother-in-law Alan. And she enjoyed a good game of mah jong!
But her life was mostly centered round her family – both her immediate family and the extended family – especially the Chuns.
Marie was Chinese, of course. But she said that she always felt that first and foremost she was a New Zealander. Like many of her generation Marie combined the best of her Chinese heritage – of which she was very proud - with that of New Zealand. She was a true Chinese New Zealander.
Bill’s sister June was talking to Marie earlier this month, asking her about her life, and Marie said that she didn’t think her life had been very interesting. But that’s not true, her life was interesting. But more, it was a good life, a successful life and a life well lived. As I said, Marie was a private person, unassuming, humble and most of all modest. She did not focus on herself or her needs, only on others’ needs.
And she died as she had lived, quietly, calmly, serenely, without any fuss or bother, and as ever thinking of her family and others before herself.
. . .
And now I invite Marie’s oldest son Neville to come up and say a few words . . .
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Some photos from the day are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/yeehopchun2/28March2009InLovingMemoryOfMarieChun
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From Stan Chun
EULOGY FOR MARIE CHUN.
MOMENTS.
On behalf of the Bill Chun family I would like to thank you all for attending today’s sad occasion.
On late Sunday
the 22nd of this month Marie passed peacefully away in the dark of night.
The phone rang at about 11.50pm and my heart sank even before I answered it knowing , yet hoping , that it was not bad news of Marie.
Neville advised me of the worst but at least I understand she went without pain.
These days we celebrate the life of the ones who have passed but I find it difficult not to have a quantum of mourning for our Marie.
Only a few weeks ago did I speak of her at the Chun Reunion .
She was the epitome of the Chinese Lotus…a flower that although nurtured in muddied waters still emerges pristine and pure.
Marie was like that in everything she did.
As a wife, a mother, a housekeeper, a cook, and a consistent worker.
She was seldom without the pressed smock, seldom not doing something for Bill, the business, the boys, or the grandchildren.
I know she cooked countless meals as she and Bill had always an open door and dinner for me and many others whether family or not.
Marie was the perfect hostess and Bill the perfect host.
Whether Vogeltown, Strathmore or Marina Grove friends and relatives gravitated towards the Bill and Marie Chun residence … and they made them all so welcome.
2.
Just as she took the Zenith smock off with the closure of the garden centre ,she, like the original nurse that she was, looked to Bill.
Marie was not one to put herself out front.
She would work quietly in the background.
She had a gentle nature , a quiet lilt of a laughter and her petite size belied the huge amount of work she could conquer in a day.
She lived in a large house that was spotless and gardens so well manicured .She was like a bee flitting from one plant to another with loving care at the garden centre.
Such was her way and her way of life.
Marie was very photogenic but I always had a problem getting her in front of my lens.
Modesty I think became her.
I had the feeling that she would not like words spoken over her when she went but at another service she said to me “ Weren’t the eulogies good..” which indicated that perhaps she would like words spoken at her service , and good words deservedly so.
Our lives are made up of lots of moments both good and bad…and sometimes there is good with the bad.
One of my happiest moments was when I was recovering from a heart attack in hospital and Helen brought my boys in to see me.
In seconds they had clambered onto my bed ……and then ate my dinner.
That was a great moment…!!
3.
They have since grown out of that habit but the incident over 10 years ago is still one that I smile at although then at a bad time.
With Marie I am sure she had times like these as have all parents but at the party that she held for us she was mostly surrounded by those that loved her.
And that was a good moment.
We have a photo that stopped that moment in time which is now invaluable.
Yes I did say that Marie invited us to her party not the other way around.
It was on the 22nd of January precisely two months before she left us but here again it shows her being generous virtually to her end.
And we have a photo taken recently of Bill with his hand placed firmly on Marie’s snapped by nephew Kenward at the retirement home.
You will see this photo on the screen and there are simply no words to better describe that moment than the picture itself.
A precious shot of a moment showing love, companionship and compassion.
Just reflect a bit now on the good moments you shared with Marie on all the various occasions and I know you will not be able to remember them all individually…but the common theme was that she said little… but did much.
Then there was the 24 hour vigil set up with Marina, Junko and Louise.
Marie did not want to be alone so these girls saw to it that she would not be, and gave themselves to the task.
That was another good moment…born not of duty but of love for a loved one…. and I do salute those who stayed with Marie and as they are /were also being with Bill as much as possible.
4.
I know you all sympathize with Marie but I ask you to also do so sincerely for Bill
who has been smitten so severely with this event…and also to Neville and Danny,
Junko and Marina and their children….and I extend this to Marie’s sisters Betty and Evelyn.
I won’t carry on with any more of my words but here are a few that I received from others.
This is part of a message from Bill’s long time friends in Florida, Mal and Gloria Gurian : ‘What little Gloria and I knew of Marie was beautiful and when we finally met her on our NZ trip proved more-so. After reading your last email on the Chun family, we learned so much more that everyone cherished.
Please convey our deepest sympathies to the entire Chun family on the loss of this very dear lady. Out prayers go out to Marie that she rest in peace.”
And something I heard of little Aiko telling Marie at the retirement home : “ Don’t worry Grandma, God will take care of you.”
And finally an excerpt from a slideshow sent to me by Phillip Yee : “ Saying Goodbye is the most difficult thing in life…and we never learn to be good at it.!!”
With that phrase I bid you Goodbye Marie and may God carry you in His arms to a caring place in heaven.
Thank you for listening.
Stan Chun
28th March, 2009.
Harbour City Funeral Service
High St. Lower Hutt. Draft 6.
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