[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 111 (Friday, August 7, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO THOMAS S. CHAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT T. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 6, 1998

  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute and to honor the 
memory of the late Thomas S. Chan of Sacramento, CA. As Mr. Chan is 
memorialized today he will be remembered by his many friends and family 
members as an intelligent businessman and dedicated community leader.
  Mr. Chan was a true Sacramentan. Born on July 17, 1919 he was raised 
in Sacramento and has always called Sacramento home. He graduated from 
Sacramento High School in 1937. In 1942, he met Mae Chuck and the two 
were wed in 1947.
  Tom Chan devoted much of energy into helping his family's produce 
business flourish. Begun by his father, Mr. Chan assumed management of 
General Produce Co. during the 1950s. Yet the produce business was not 
the only field in which Tom Chan excelled. He went on to establish 
himself as one of Sacramento's most innovative retailers and custom 
home developers. He was also an immensely talented furniture craftsman 
as well as an avid sportsman. General Produce Co., South Land Park 
Terrace, and Riverside Estates will endure as Thomas Chan's lasting 
legacy in Sacramento.
  But like his father, Tom also leaves behind a wonderful family, 
friends, and a community of people who are better for having known him.
  The Chan family will always hold a special place in my memories. When 
my family and I returned to Sacramento after the incarceration of 
Japanese Americans, we had few possessions, little money, and no 
income. Moreover, because of the internment, there was a presumption of 
guilt and a suspicion of Americans of Japanese ancestry throughout 
California.
  But amidst such indignities, there were families like the Chans who 
reached out to my family and others like us.
  My father, who was forced to give up his own produce business when 
the internment order came, was hired by Tom's father to work at General 
Produce, where he worked with and for Tom Chan for more than 30 years.
  There are scores of people and families who have been similarly 
influenced by Tom Chan and his family. It is they who will feel the 
great loss in our community and remember him as an admired leader.
  Mr. Speaker, as Thomas S. Chan is laid to rest today in Sacramento, I 
respectfully ask all of my colleagues to join me in commemorating his 
dual legacies as a successful businessman and beloved family figure. 
Our thoughts are with Mae Chan, Tom's four children, and two 
grandchildren during their most difficult time.

                          ____________________