Life Story

A Life of Love and Legacy

Edward Jun Foo ‘Eddie’ Mah was born on February 20, 1932, in Vancouver, BC Canada. He was the youngest child of Yuen Soon Kie Mah and Kwei Lan Lee and joined siblings, Kaye, Tuffy, Lin and George. He also had half-siblings from his dad’s first marriage: Freddie, Edith, Tommy, Shung and Lim.

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Eddie grew up near Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver and attended St. Frances Xavier Primary School. He attended Britannia Secondary School where he was on the rugby team and would regale us with how fun it was to be in the middle of a scrum. It was during high school that Eddie met the love of his life, Maylene Therese Joe. She was a sporty gal and together they enjoyed going to the movies (usually with a nephew or two in tow), getting dressed up, dining out and dancing with friends. They’d take quick trips to Victoria and even traveled back and forth to Seattle for parties and dances.

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During the summers, starting when he was 16, Eddie worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Steamship and Union Steamship companies, traveling up and down the Vancouver Island coast on the Princess Maquinna, Motor Princess and Lady Cynthia boats, eventually ending up as a galley cook. 

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Eddie attended the University of British Columbia, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. The UBC engineers, in their red cardigans, were well known for some shenanigans around campus and would wear their engineering sweaters everywhere. Eddie wore his sweater with pride throughout his life – so often that it’s in almost every photo and eventually had to be replaced. During college, he worked at Canadian Bechtel refinery in Ioco Port Moody as a surveyor and ‘rod man’ or cast engineer and at the Alcan smelter in Kitimat.

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Eddie graduated in 1956 with his Bachelor of Science and received his iron ring in a secret ceremony that only other engineers can attend. Many years later, he was so honored to be asked by his nephew Brad to be part of his ritual ceremony. Eddie had his Professional Engineer (PE) license for Quebec, British Columbia, Washington and California and was a lifetime member of ASHRAE. He also belonged to the John Graham lunch group – engineers who would meet yearly long after they left the firm. After frustrating attempts to explain Trig to Tracey, he was relieved and proud to end up with three structural engineers in the family: Robyn, Sean and Kelly!

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After graduation, Ed moved across the country to work at Canadair in Quebec. On July 20, 1957, Maylene and Eddie were married in Vancouver and began a life together in Montreal. In 1958, Tracey was born, followed by Steven in 1959 and Scott in 1964. The family moved to Dollard des Ormeaux, a suburb of Montreal and lived a very kid-centered life. Eddie and Maylene had a tightknit group of friends who, like themselves, lived far from home (England, Japan, the Netherlands), so they became like family and raised their kids together. There were birthday parties, dinners with Pat and Alec Morris and the Eastmans, trips to Place Ville Marie Downtown, ice rinks in the backyard and memorable driving vacations to Cape Cod, Wildwood New Jersey (where Eddie lost his glasses in the Atlantic) and New York City (where a very young Steven and Tracey were playing elevator and locked themselves in the closet). One of the highlights was when Montreal hosted Expo67 and the family made many trips to see all of the exhibits. Once in a blue moon, Eddie and Maylene would get all dressed up for a night on the town – they saw Maylene’s favorite – Tom Jones and Gladys Night and the Pips (except Gladys was sick so they only saw the Pips.) 

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While in Montreal, Eddie also worked at Henry J Kaiser Company and the firm Surveyer Nenninger Chenevert. In the summer of 1967, Eddie was recruited for a job with the Boeing Company working on the cabin pressurization system for the 747 and in September moved the family to Newport Hills in Bellevue, Washington. Robyn was born in November of that year. Life in Bellevue was a whirlwind of activities, school events, neighborhood picnics in the cul de sac, building battleships and models with Steven, letting Scott add multi-line telephones and rewire the house, watching all of Robyn’s sports and driving Tracey everywhere. He would take us on day trips to Gilman Village and Pine Lake (at that time considered far away), Mount Rainier and Lincoln Park. They became and remained great friends with their neighbors – the Gorr, Yellman, Marsh and Haglund families.

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Eddie and Maylene knew the importance of family, so several times a year they would pack everyone into the Country Squire station wagon for the three-hour trek to Vancouver, to see his folks and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We occasionally saw the sites that tourists see – the flowers at Queen E park, Grandville Island, the gondola on Grouse Mountain, Chinatown for dim sum at Ming’s, the suspension bridge at Capilano – however, we usually just went from Auntie Anne’s to Auntie Kaye’s and back to Po’s for huge gatherings, lots of good food and buttery Bon Ton cake.

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Speaking of food, Eddie loved English-style fish and chips, lemon meringue pie, Maylene’s cooking and often made fried egg or grilled cheese sammies on Sundays. He could eat cream of wheat every morning, pecan sandies every day, pudding cakes from Safeway and Dad’s oatmeal cookies from Canada. He also had a soft spot for ice cream, especially strawberry, so Neapolitan or banana splits were always a favorite. At every family gathering, he would encourage second helpings and always made sure everyone got more than enough to eat.

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With four kids, vacations consisted of those road trips to see the relatives. Eddie always wanted to take scenic Chuckanut Drive either to or from Vancouver, succeeding once, only to hear cries from the back seat of ‘never again!’ We did take an epic driving vacation to California – San Francisco, Disneyland during a heatwave and San Diego, which included SeaWorld and a quick walk over the border to Tijuana where we carried back a huge wrought-iron wall decoration and Tiffany-style lamp that Maylene had to have! In 1974, the family headed to Spokane for Expo, staying in the dorms at EWU and visiting longtime family friends.

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Eddie enjoyed playing tennis, snow skiing, home projects, collecting rocks, making models and trains, attending the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair, building shelves and furniture and Snoopy whirligigs, tending his beautiful garden, conversing with strangers at the grocery store, commuting to work by bus and making weekly trips to the Newport Hills Library where he’d keep five books on his nightstand and rotate between them. He enjoyed watching football and made sure we didn’t say our team was winning – they were leading. He was curious, creative, and could recite facts and figures and Greek myths. He studied Latin and German in school. Subscribed to Life magazine, Time and National Geographic. He had a deep interest in all things and it seemed like he knew EVERYTHING!

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He read the newspaper cover to cover and that’s when he saw Oliver, a rambunctious mutt who was ‘Pet of the Week’ for an entire year and destined for…you know! We took a trip to the Humane Society where Oliver was jumping up and down and barking like crazy – Maylene preferred the quiet cocker spaniel in the corner, but Eddie was already smitten. He and Oliver would take long walks to the pipeline and Oliver never forgot that Eddie saved his life.

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Eddie created a beautiful garden at the Bellevue house, overflowing with flowers, trees, bamboo and rock paths. He loved feeding the birds and squirrels in his yard, especially Mortimer who would come right up to the back door. Every morning, Eddie would fill his feeders with seeds and nuts and every night he would sweep up the mess.

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He was a lifelong photographer and captured every Kodak moment, family gathering, special event, kids’ sporting event, graduations, birthdays – you name it, he was there taking pictures – and then he would make prints and slide shows to share. He loved photographing people, flowers, interesting buildings and the occasional HVAC unit. He also had a penchant for collecting cameras and to Maylene’s dismay, would excitedly come home with a new camera or lens – Canon, Leica, Rollei – we’ll remember him most with a Nikon around his neck. 

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Eddie held fast to his Catholic faith. It was deep and abiding and gave him great comfort. He knew all the Latin and old-school prayers. He was a founding family and member of St. Madeleine Sophie Parish, and he would sit in the same pew every Sunday for over 50 years. His faith was truly a guiding force in his life.

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Eddie believed in being honest, just and true. He worked hard and persevered when things got tough and always maintained a positive attitude. He put four kids through college – go Huskies! – often two kids at the same time. He was humble, enjoyed simple things – a Sarah Brightman song, a John Wayne movie, a cup of hot coffee in his bumblebee mug. He could fall asleep anywhere, even watching The Empire Strikes Back in the theater.

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As the kids got married, the family grew to include Laura, Bobby and Jim, followed by grandchildren Sara, Callie, Sean, Daniel and Rory. May and Eddie LOVED being grandparents! They would attend as many of the grandchildren’s concerts, school activities and sporting events as they could. That’s also when the family traditions and celebrations started to explode! Family dinners got bigger and it seemed like there was a party every month! Every year started with Chinese New Year when everyone had to wear red and eat Jai for good luck, followed by birthday dinners where Mom would make your favorite meal and cake, BirEaster at Robyn’s, nerf gun water fights on Father’s Day, back-to-school dinners at Tracey’s, Thanksgiving at Steven’s, candy house decorating and tourtiere pie making, Christmas at Scott’s. And always, everyone was welcome – the more, the merrier!

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Eddie’s work resume was long – after Boeing, he worked in Victoria, BC for the Department of Public Works, John Graham Company, Cross Engineers in Tacoma, Henningson Durham Richardson (HDR), Wieland Lindgren, the Schlemmer Associates and Kramer Chin Mayo. He retired from MacDonald Miller at the age of 67 in 1999.

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Upon retiring, Ed had plenty of time to work in his garden and tinker around the house. He and Maylene started going to the Bellevue Family YMCA several times a week for tai chi and yoga classes, working out on the treadmill and mostly meeting people and staying for coffee or going to lunch afterward at Café Ori. The had a wonderful circle of friends there – they would dress up for holidays and skits, celebrate birthdays, go on field trips, volunteer. Oftentimes, Maylene would be the organizer and Eddie would ‘happily’ follow along. He also perfected making Janet’s banana lush and Penny’s sesame cookies to the delight of his Y friends and family alike. In addition, Eddie and Maylene enjoyed annual summer trips to Whistler and Cannon Beach with the family, an Alaskan cruise and a long-awaited vacation in Hawaii.

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In 2018, Maylene and Eddie decided to move five minutes away to an independent/assisted living complex called Regency Newcastle. They lived across the hall from their neighbors, June and John Marsh and made a great group of friends who ate together every night in the Creekside Room. Maylene would make beaded necklaces and school the other residents in exercise class and Ed would puzzle and go for long walks around the block. They still hung out at the Y, ran errands in the neighborhood and hosted family events in the party room. Even though Maylene’s cancer returned, they tried to stay as busy as ever.

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On leap day, in February 2020, the family held an 88^th birthday bash for Maylene and Eddie at Terry’s kitchen with 80 of their neighbors, friends, extended family and Canadian relatives. Who knew that a week later, the world would shut down because of COVID-19. We were locked out and left with masks and window visits just when we needed to be together the most. Sadly, Maylene passed away on June 29, 2020. We all wondered how Eddie would fare as she was the social butterfly, planner and doer. Remarkably, he carved out a nice daily routine, buoyed by visits from his kids, grandkids and the kindness of his friends at Regency. It was during this time, Eddie’s memory started really declining. At first, he kept a notebook in his pocket to remind him of the things he wanted to do or say. He eventually just said, ‘hmm I forget’ and that was that. Perhaps it was God’s way of sparing him the pain of living without his beloved wife and remembering all the memories they made. He truly lived in the moment and that was a blessing.

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Eddie spent the next four years living in his two-bedroom apartment, surrounded by his favorite keepsakes, photos, collections and view of the ducks in the pond. He still went to church on Sundays with Robyn, stopping for a chicken salad sammie and tomato soup at Panera or DQ banana split for dessert. He did puzzles all day, every day and mastered the technology Scott put in place saying, ‘Hey Portal, hang up!’ when Tracey and Robyn veered off topic. He’d sit in the lobby greeting all who walked by, chatted with other residents and helped the staff with tasks like closing all the blinds in the dining room every night. He enjoyed going out to eat and for short excursions and attended all our family events.

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So, it was kind of a surprise in the beginning of September 2024, that Eddie went on a walkabout (at night) with pictures of Maylene under his arm telling the worker who found him he was going home. The folks at Regency suggested quickly moving him to a dedicated memory care facility for his safety. He moved to Silverado Bellevue at the end of September where he participated in daily activities, art projects, balloon badminton. He read lots of books and completed many puzzles. It was an easy transition and he enjoyed frequent visits by family and the company of his caregivers, especially Cynthia, Sharon, Pim, Gita and Joel. 

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In November, Ed was hospitalized for a week with complications from a UTI and was put on hospice care. He returned to Silverado and although we appreciated the hardworking nurses and caregivers, including hospice volunteers Melody and Patricia, the environment was a bit chaotic. Our family took turns being with him 24/7 in December, and then 16 hours a day from January until May. He was on a pureed diet and still very strong – wheeling himself around the halls (and away from the visiting singers). We had to make sure he didn’t fall. While keeping up the schedule was hard, the time together was a gift. We read together, did puzzles, played games, watched National Geographic and Planet Earth specials, Ted Lasso and Mary Berry. Everyone spent plenty of one-on-one time with him and he gave us an extra round of holidays, birthdays and special events. He got to know Callie and Michael’s child, his great-granddaughter, Tilly; watch Sean propose to Kelly via video; celebrate Chinese New Year and his 93^rd birthday; attend Scott’s wedding to Ken; join everyone for BirEaster; sneak fries at Red Robin; enjoy another Father’s Day and be present for our big family dinners.

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In May, Eddie moved to the home of Dan and Adina Puravet who run Bellevue Elderly Care with love, compassion and dignity. The atmosphere was peaceful and calm (for all of us) and he especially loved their dog, Leo. They welcomed our visits and Eddie enjoyed reading the newspaper and large-print books and watching TV from the comfort of a recliner (his first ever!) We are especially grateful to Adina and Dan, their boys Joshua and Jacob, caregivers Jay and Rae, Luda, Steve and Emma whose professionalism, kindness and care will always be remembered. 

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Eddie was surrounded by family – listening to stories, his favorite Catholic ‘Top 40’ songs and episodes of HGTV Hometown and Law & Order – and passed away peacefully on the morning of Sunday, August 31. He was preceded in death by his parents; siblings; beloved wife, Maylene and daughter-in-law, Laura. He leaves behind his four children, their spouses, grandchildren and great-granddaughter, plus numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

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He will be loved and remembered for putting his faith and family first, for inspiring by example, for his strength, good humor, kindness to all, easy smile, exuberance ‘oh boy!’ and for being extraordinary in every way. We hold him in our hearts and will carry on his legacy as best we can.

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With love, 

Scott Mah and Ken Wachter

Robyn Mah, Jim and Rory O’Brien