Lina

Lina, eldest sister of the family, loved to babysit Simon when they lived in China. She used to put him on her back using a baby sling. When Lina carried Simon outside, all the ladies came up to him wanting to touch and play with him. She wouldn’t allow anyone to touch him and so she would run off! She was very protective of her baby brother.

In a village in China where the family lived, the community used to get their announcements through a cone speaker attached to a tall pole. One day when Simon was around five years old, he decided to make his own cone speaker. He found an old wash basin and punched a hole in the center. After climbing up a tree and hanging the basin, Simon started making his own announcements pretending that the speaker worked. The sisters thought it was hilarious!

Nancy

Nancy, another elder sister of Simon, recalls a story about a 4 year old boy needing a haircut. One day, Mom decided that Simon should have a haircut. Well, he didn’t want one, so he ran off. He hid himself inside an empty concrete tank used for a fishing pond. He walked up the steps and hid inside the tank with a pair of scissors. Simon decided that he could cut his own hair. When he finally came out, the family saw the haircut he gave himself. It was all crooked!

Diane

Diane the third elder sister to Simon remembers one story involving him and the vegetable market. One day Mom forgot an item from the market to cook for dinner, so she sent Simon who was seven or eight at the time to buy bean sprouts. She told him to be careful not to allow anyone in the market to cheat him by charging more than it should cost. Simon walked in the rain carrying an umbrella to the first market stall and asked how much for the bean sprouts. The lady must have given him an expensive price because he left and went to another stall. This time he bought the vegetable. Well, the first lady saw what Simon did, so she walked over to him with a cutting knife and started yelling while waving her hands. Then she destroyed his umbrella! Poor Simon ran home crying with his broken umbrella!

Kathy

Kathy is Simon’s baby sister. He was delighted to be the older brother because it allowed him some authority to teach his younger sister things she ought to know. Things like how to swim and ride a bike, how to read and write Chinese, the need to improve in math and how to drive stick shift. Simon’s method of teaching how to swim wasn’t the most conventional – he thought if he pushed you in the pool you’d naturally float! The bike lesson was the same…he thought that once he told you to balance yourself on the bike, he could simply give you a push and you’d naturally ride away. That’s not exactly how it worked.

At the end of his high school days, he had some friends that led him to the Chinese Christian Church. He enjoyed having more new friends and being involved with the Church. Simon was going to church for a while before Kathy knew about it, but suddenly one day he said, “you are going to learn to read and write Chinese!” Simon was always helpful and kind-hearted, so he volunteered to drive the youths to and from school. He drove his van to pick up several people every Saturday. He was concerned that Kathy should stay busy on the weekends and more so about retaining the Chinese language. He was so dedicated and very giving of his time.

When Simon was about ten years old, Dad bought him a pet crab in Hong Kong. He tied a string on it and said, “you can walk the crab but don’t ever touch it because his big claws will get you!” Well, curious Simon got his finger caught and was screaming. Dad had to rescue his son by smashing the crab to let him go. That was a painful experience for a little boy.

Another crab experience occurred when Simon and Lily were in college and Kathy was in high school. One Saturday, he wanted to take Lily and Kathy to Ocean City to catch crabs. It was a rainy day but he was excited to go and catch a bunch of crabs for dinner. He would not allow the rain to stop his plans. At the pier, they threw down the cage with some bait and guess what they caught? A three legged crab. They threw it back, but then guess what they caught the next time, the same crab! They kept catching that same one over and over and kept throwing it back. It rained all day and it ended up that they didn’t catch anything. Simon never allowed that to ruin his day. Kathy complained as a teenager would, of being wet all day, but Lily was the nice girlfriend and supported him. They went home in the evening empty handed.

Simon liked to do spur of the moment things. When he owned a VW van, he came home with Lily and said to Kathy, we are driving up to Canada! What choice did she have? So they got in the van and he drove the three of them there at night. They slept in the van and washed up at the gas station. The three spent the next day driving around Montreal, ate at Chinatown and later drove to a lake where they fed a bunch of Canadian geese. That was it, then they drove home.

As a teenager, Kathy got upset easily and became annoyed at silly things, but Simon tried his best to be in her life. He was an adult and had his own life to live but no matter what, he kept Kathy included by spending time with her and taking her to places she wouldn’t normally get to go. She appreciates it now and loved him for being such a caring older brother.

When the family lived in Hong Kong, Simon had to babysit Kathy when mother was busy. He didn’t like to sit around. Instead, he loved exploring with his little buddies. One day while watching Kathy he and his friends wanted to play pranks. There was this construction site with a covered sidewalk where people would walk to and from. He and his buddies decided to hide inside these barrels on the construction site and throw pebbles at the passerby. Kathy was only three at the time and Simon told her to be strictly quiet and stay put in a corner. The people walking by would get hit and looked puzzled and then continue on their way. The boys would laugh quietly. Finally, one woman got upset and decided to walk over to the site and check it out. She saw Kathy and grabbed her hand – she started to cry and the game was over. Simon and friends had to come out of hiding and well…they sure got punished!

From the beginning as a little boy, Simon had a curious and adventurous nature that stayed with him throughout his life. One thing Kathy remembers is that he had a fascination for how things were built and put together. Whenever he was given something like a radio or a model boat or plane, he immediately took it apart and tried to rebuild it. As for any baby things Kathy received, he did the same! Most of them stopped working or they didn’t look the same anymore! He and his buddies liked to go exploring in the apartment flats where they lived. They would walk around in the dark basements looking for rare bugs like the albino roach. Of course, Kathy was the lucky little sister that got dragged through these frightening adventures.

Cousin Simon Ng (of Seattle)

Last September 2015 on the Princess Crown Victoria cruise to Alaska, I was admiring the sunset from the side of the ship with Cousin Kathy and her Husband Jeff. While taking one of his walks around the ship, Cousin Simon (Eng) found us and said there had been whale sightings off that side of the boat. He and I stepped aside and had a terrific conversation. He asked me, “What exactly is it that you do?” My explanation was not brief and in the middle of it, He yelled out, “look over there, whale!” All of us got excited and started looking for whales in the ocean. We never saw much more than their plumes of spray, but altogether it became a time that I will always remember with great fondness.

I was named after Simon Eng, because my parents were so fond of him.

Eileen (Simon’s niece)

While I have many memories of my Uncle Simon, I want to share a brief one that really captured his personality. One of my last memories with him was when we went on a cruise through Alaska last year. Although I appreciated this unique opportunity to be in a different place with my family, I had pretty low expectations because I was going to be the youngest person there aside from Stephen – I didn’t know if anyone else would have the energy for the activities that Alaska had to offer! However, as soon as I saw Uncle Simon’s smile while I was checking into the ship, I knew the trip would be better than I expected. If I wasn’t sure at that moment, then his photobomb of my picture from our first stop definitely confirmed it.  From ordering an insane amount of food with the rest of us to claiming whale sightings on our group chat half the time, he definitely found ways to make our trip interesting! 

One particular afternoon, I found Uncle Simon playing ping pong with Aunt Lily and her sister, Sophie, on the side of the ship. He got in a zone where he was trying to hit every single ball that came his way as hard as he could. The ping pong balls were flying everywhere on the deck and we were just hoping one wouldn’t hit us. Less than five minutes later, he ended up breaking his paddle! His infectious laughter afterwards was priceless and one I will never forget. I look back now on Alaska as a fond memory, and I will forever have my uncle to thank for that.

Nisha (Simon’s niece)

When I was in college, Uncle Simon convinced me to apply to pharmacy school. He gave lots of advice and also wrote letters of recommendation for me. One of the most important things Uncle Simon ever did for me, was to get me a summer internship at Johns Hopkins Pediatric Pharmacy in 2003. Although he thought pharmacy was my number one priority, this internship also gave me the opportunity to stay in Maryland for the summer and date my future husband! 

Though I did not end up pursuing pharmacy, Uncle Simon knew I worked in healthcare and he tried to help me become an FDA auditor, convincing me that I didn’t need to actually be a pharmacist to pursue this field! He never tired of helping me try to advance my career, and of course recruit for the FDA.

This past summer Uncle Simon began teaching my daughter Alaina Cantonese through audio texts he made. He taught me to call Alaina “Sil bobo” (my precious) though he warned me not to call my husband that because it would be “gross” – he said sil bobo is only for babies! One day I was asking him repeatedly to send me more audio texts and he brushed me off saying he was in the middle of his Fitbit challenge! A few days later he sent me multiple lessons to make up for that. I had told him just a few days before he passed, that I would study hard with Alaina.

Uncle Simon supported my mom (Kathy) every day. He taught her so much…He was there for her no matter what, always giving her advice on so many things, advising her on health care – providing the things he could, like inhalers for her allergies. Whenever my mom and I spoke about something she was unsure of, she would always say “let me talk to Uncle Simon to see what he thinks”. He even walked her down the aisle when she married her husband Jeff, and I know this meant the world to her.

Every Christmas Uncle Simon would send my mom these luxurious Harry & David gift baskets. My mom would always brag to me, don’t these pears taste better than any other pear you’ve tasted? She, Jeff and I would enjoy these treats for weeks afterward.

Uncle Simon took Aunt Lily and me to Corner Bakery the morning before Ricky’s wedding. In line he noticed an elderly woman who seemed a little lost after getting her beverage. Uncle Simon rushed over, took her things plus her coffee and asked her what she needed help with. He proceeded to add her sugars and mix the beverage, warning her that it was still hot, and help her out the door with her belongings. Looking back, it was these rare, selfless acts that characterized him as a person. He was a servant to humanity, unabashed and bold in helping others, helping strangers, acting as if it was his first priority to serve others. He gained nothing other than knowing he helped someone. There are not many people like that in this world.

Uncle Simon and Aunt Lily were driving one day and we were pretty lost on the freeway. Instead of relying on our GPS or calling a family member who was also taking that route, Uncle Simon pulled over to the side of a road where he saw a police officer. He ran over to ask the officer for help, expecting that the officer would treat him with respect and courtesy. He knew this because he himself reaches out to help others happily and he would expect nothing less from an officer. To me, it was just another demonstration of his morally upright character, and his confident belief in others to reciprocrate.

I have many small stories that are a testament to what a wonderful brother he was to my mom and uncle, to me. It is unreal that he is no longer there to turn to at any time for help, but I know that it is now up to us to serve others more selflessly and be better people in general, in order to honor the life he lived.

Andy (Simon’s nephew)

One experience I will never forget is when Uncle Simon and I bought my first car. From my experience with Uncle Simon, he had bad negotiation skills (for an Asian) but somehow he always believed he got good deals. For example, when he took me to shop for a used car after I graduated high school, we stumbled upon a private seller selling a used 1990 Honda Civic DX sedan with no power windows, no power locks, and no abs for $4500. I noticed the seller was Indian and I suspected this would be interesting, given the negotiations would be taking place between these two. The car was in bad shape. The driver side mirror was missing and the entire front portion of the car was slight bent downward. It was obvious that the car had a serious accident. I just wanted to turn around and leave. But as a clueless kid straight out of high school, I wasn’t going to say a word and would just rely on my mighty uncle to do the negotiation. After approximately 30 minutes, both sides wouldn’t back down, so Uncle Simon got up and told him we were leaving. As we walked toward our car, the man chased behind us and told us to wait. Uncle Simon said “Last call, $3900!”, then the seller said “You are tough. Deal!” I took that car home that day and drove it for the next two years. In that time span, the car suffered a broken timing belt, a broken water pump, a broken axle joint, a broken air compressor, and last but not least, a leaky windshield. And in those two years, I didn’t have much luck finding a date in that ride, but when I did, I always looked like a taxi driver on rainy days because the leaky windshield picked the perfect spot to drip – my front passenger’s legs, so they were forced to sit behind me.

I won’t begin with how much of a great man my uncle was to his family and to society.

When I came back alone to America from Hong Kong in my teenage years for higher education, it was my Aunt Diane and her younger brother, my late Uncle Simon, who unconditionally provided assistance and guidance to me to contribute to my today’s success. Uncle Simon was always a father figure to me. From helping me purchase my car, taking time off to drive me to places when I couldn’t find a ride, to staying by my bedside every day in the hospital when I had a nearly fatal car accident, and countless favors and encouraging words to me when I was a teenager, Uncle Simon went above and beyond to make me feel how important I was to him. Being a goofball I always was, I was always afraid of his constant nagging of how I should be studying hard in school; words that I wouldn’t even hear from my own parents. When I graduated from college and got a decent job, he told me in my face and later to my mother that he was very proud of me. The sense of relief that I saw on his face that day represented one of his many responsibilities off his shoulder.

The only regret I have is I won’t have the chance to tell him how much I appreciate everything he had done for me and my family in Hong Kong throughout the years. It was never easy for me to show affection to others, but I’ll learn from this mistake and start to show appreciation more to people important to me. Rest in peace my beloved Uncle Simon. Your greatness will forever live in my heart. I miss you very much.

Jeannie (Simon’s niece) 

My family was the first family Uncle Simon and Aunt Diane sponsored to come to America. There were six of us: my mom (Lina), dad (Wansheng), my brothers (David, Michael, and Tommy) and me. That was in 1982, and Uncle Simon was trying to save money for us to fly from New York to D.C. Instead he bought tickets for us to land in New York. He had to drive all the way from Washington D.C. to New York to pick us up.  Although I never asked if he ever waited long at the airport, I am and will be forever grateful to be in America because of this selfless man. My name and my brother’s names were uniquely given by my Uncle Simon. My name, Jeannie, was from “I Dream of Jeannie”.  

I recall the first time I went to D.C. It was right after we flew to America. Uncle Simon drove us there to explore all the museums. The fondest memory I have is going to the Treasury Department, where we watched how the American Dollar was printed. I will never forget that Uncle Simon was the first and only person who took me to see the Independence Day fireworks in D.C.