William Ve Yin Shen
William (Willie) V.Y. Shen, 81, of Vancouver, British Columbia, passed away peacefully with family by his side on March 1st, 2021 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
Mr. Shen was born in Hong Kong in 1939, son of the late Jackson Shen and Shen Lam Ying. He is survived by his spouse, Happy Shen Loh Chun Yi, his children, Yvonne and Kevin Shen, their spouses Kurt Schroeder and Peggy Shen respectively, and his grandchildren Owen, Isabelle, Leanne, and Sophie. He is also survived by his siblings Fleming, Vivien, and Samson, and many nieces and nephews.
Mr. Shen attended St. Josephโs College in Hong Kong and shortly after graduation, began his career at Longman Group (Far East) Ltd., a British publishing company. He started as a general clerk in 1959 and by 1975, rose to the position of Managing Director. He eventually became Managing Director of Addison-Wesley Longman (Asia) Ltd., and Senior Vice President (International Division) of Pearson Education (China) Ltd. Under his leadership, Longman published the first English- Chinese Dictionary for the Asian market, subsequently followed by bi-lingual dictionaries of Contemporary English, Business English, Scientific and Technical Terms, Biological Terms and Computing to name a few. Mr. Shen successfully expanded the business, captured the lionโs share of Hong Kongโs English textbook market, and secured Longmanโs publishing and rights business in Mainland Chinaโ a first for a foreign-owned publishing company to break into and thrive in that emerging market. During his 40+ years tenure at the company, Longman Group (Far East) Ltd. became a production powerhouse for the whole of Longman Group. Mr. Shen was known as a โLegendโ throughout Longman and in the publishing industry across Asia for his strategic vision, tenacity, and incredible work ethic.
Mr. Shen was also a fighter. In 1999, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and turned his energy to beating the disease. In 2001, he went into remission and retired to Vancouver, British Columbia to enjoy the fresh air and to pursue interests he previously had precious little time for. He golfed, swam, learned how to play badminton, sang, traveled, spent time with family and friends, volunteered at the BC Cancer Society, and organized charity concerts (where he was also a singer,) to raise money for lung cancer research.
Mr. Shen lived a full, successful, and meaningful life. He cared deeply for his family, friends, and colleagues. Aside for being known as a kind, witty, generous, and loyal man, Mr. Shen knew how to throw a smashing partyโ everyone always looked forward to his holiday festivities and gatherings in Hong Kong. He was also a marvelous storytellerโ chances were if you knew him, he had a story or two for you (or of you!). He will be missed tremendously by all those who knew him and were touched by him.
A memorial service will be held in his honor on Wednesday, March 10th at the Centre for Peace, a part of the Canadian Memorial United Church. With regret, due to the current COVID restrictions, the service will be limited to close family and friends.
ๆฒ็ถญ่ณขๅ ็๏ผ2021ๅนด3ๆ1ๆฅๆผๅ่ฉฉ็ๆบซๅฅ่ฏ๏ผๅจๅฎถไบบ็้ชไผดไธ๏ผๅฎ่ฉณ่พญไธ๏ผไบซๅนด81ๆญฒใ
ๆฒๅ ็๏ผ1939ๅนดๅบ็ๆผ้ฆๆธฏ๏ผ็ถ่ฆชๆฒๅ่ช ๏ผๆฏ่ฆชๆฒๆ่ฑใๅฎถไบบๅ ๆฌ๏ผๅคชๅคชๆฒๆจไฟ่๏ผๅฅณๅ Yvonne Shen, ๅ ๅญ Kevin Shen ๅไปๅๅ่ช็ไผดไพถ Kurt Schroeder, Peggy Shen; ๅญซๅ ่ผฉ็ๆ Owen, Isabelle, Leanne ๅ Sophie; ๅ ๅผๅงๅฆนๆ Fleming, Vivien, Samson๏ผ้ๆ็พๅค็ไพๅญไพๅฅณ๏ผๅค็ฅๅค็ฅๅฅณใ
ๆฒๅ ็ๅฐฑ่ฎๆผ้ฆๆธฏ่่ฅ็ๆธ้ขใ็ขๆฅญไนๅพไธไน ๅณ้ๅงๅ ถๅจ่ฑๅๅบ็ๅ ฌๅธ- ๆๆๅบ็๏ผ้ ๆฑ๏ผๆ้ๅ ฌๅธ็่ทๆฅญ็ๆถฏใ1959ๅนดไปไฝ็บๆฎ้ๆๅก้ฒๅ ฅๆๆๅ ฌๅธ๏ผ่ณ1975ๅนดๅทฒ็ถๆ็บ่ฉฒๅ ฌๅธ็่ฃไบ้ทใ
ๅจๆฒๅ ็็้ ๅฐไธ๏ผๆๆๆๅๅบ็ไบ้ๅฐไบๆดฒๅธๅ ด็็ฌฌไธๆฌ่ฑๆผข้่งฃ่ฉๅ ธ๏ผ้จไนๆดๅฑๆ็บๆดๅ็ณปๅ็่ฑๆผข้่งฃ่ฉๅ ธ๏ผๅ ๆฌ๏ผใๆๆ็ถไปฃ่ฑๆผข้่งฃ่ฉๅ ธใ๏ผใๆๆ่ฑๆผข้่งฃๅๆฅญ่ฉๅ ธใ๏ผใๆๆ่ฑๆผข้่งฃ็งๆ่ฉๅ ธใ็ญใ
้คๆญคไนๅค๏ผๆๆไนๆๅ้ๆไบ้ฆๆธฏ็ไธญๅฐๅญธๆ็งๆธๅธๅ ด๏ผไธฆไฝๆไธปๅฐ็ๅธๅ ดไปฝ้กใ้ฆๆธฏๆๆไนๆ็บๆๆฉ้ฒๅ ฅไธญๅๅคง้ธ็ๅค่ณๅบ็็คพ๏ผไธฆ้้่ไธญๅๅๅฐๅบ็็คพ้ฒ่ก็ๆฌ่ฒฟๆ็ๅไฝๆนๅผ๏ผ่ฎๆๆๅ็ๆทฑๅ ฅไบบๅฟ๏ผๅคงๆพ็ฐๅฝฉใ
ๅจๆฒๅ ็่ถ ้40ๅนด็่ทๆฅญ็ๆถฏไธญ๏ผ้ฆๆธฏๆๆๆ็บๆดๅๆๆ้ๅ็ๅฐๅท็็ขๅบๅฐใ้ไผๅ๏ผๆฒๅ ็็่ทไฝๆฏๅน็ๆ่ฒๅบ็้ๅๅ้้จ็้ซ็ดๅฏ็ธฝ่ฃ๏ผๆฏ่ฏไบบๅจๅค่ณๅบ็็็ๆ้ซ่ทไฝใไปๆฏ่ฏไบบ็้ฉๅฒ๏ผๆฏไบๆดฒๅบ็็็ๅณๅฅไบบ็ฉใ
ๆญคๅค๏ผๆฒๅ ็ไนๆฏไธไฝๅๅฃซใ1999ๅนด็ขบ่จบ่บ็ไนๅพ๏ผ้ๅงไบ่็็็ๆ็ญ๏ผไธฆๆๅๅฐๆฐๅไบ็็ใ2001ๅนด่ๅฎถ้ทๅพๆบซๅฅ่ฏ๏ผ้ๅงๅ ถ้ไผ็ๆดปใ
ๆฒ็ถญ่ณขๅ ็ๆจๅๅฅฝๆฝ๏ผๅนซๅฉไบ็กๆธ็ๆๅใๅไบใ็่ณ็ด ๆงๅนณ็็ไบบใไป้ๅจๅ็จฎ็็ๅบ้ๆๅพไบๅฟ้ก่ ็ๅทฅไฝ๏ผ็จ่ชๅทฑ็็ถๆญทๅ็ฅ่ญๅนซๅฉไบๅพๅค็็ๆฃ่ ๏ผๆญคๅค๏ผไปไบฆ็ฉๆฅต็ต็นๆ ๅๆผๅบ๏ผ็บ็็็ ็ฉถ็ฑๆฌพๅๆใ
ๆฒๅ ็ไธๅ ไบซๅๆบซๅฅ่ฏ็พๅฅฝ็่ช็ถ็ฐๅข๏ผๅๆไน่ฟฝๆฑ่ชๅทฑ็่่ถฃๅๆๅฅฝ๏ผๅ ๆฌ๏ผ้ซ็พๅคซ็๏ผๆธธๆณณ๏ผ็พฝๆฏ็๏ผๅฑๆญๅๆ ่ก็ญใไป้ๅธธ็ฑๆ่ชๅทฑ็ๅฎถๅบญ๏ผไบซๅๅๅฎถไบบไธ่ตท็ๅคฉๅซไนๆจใ
ๆฒๅ ็็ไธ็ๆฏ่ฑๅฏๅคๅฝฉ็๏ผๅ ๅฏฆๅๆๆ็พฉ็ใๅฎถไบบๅๆๅๅฐๆๆฐธ้ ๆไป็้ๆ้่จๅจๅฟ๏ผๆฐธ้ ๆทๅฟตไป๏ผ
ๆฒ็ถญ่ณขๅ ็่ฟฝๆผๆๅฐๆผ3ๆ10ๆฅ้ฑไธๅจๆบซๅฅ่ฏ Centre for Peace, The Canadian Memorial United Church ่่กใๅ ็บ็ซๆ ๅๅ ๏ผๅช้ๆผๅฐ้ๅฎถๅฑฌๅๆๅ๏ผ่ซ่ซ๏ผ
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory.
-Oscar Wilde