克城消息

Donna Cheung Hom did what made her the most happy

Donna Cheung Hom (nee Cheung) age 83, of Fairview Park, OH, passed away unexpectedly on January 21, 2021. Born in Guangzhou, China, she married Willie L. Hom and moved to Youngstown, Ohio in 1960. Willie passed away in 1991. She remarried and is survived by her husband, Danny Auyeung. Willie and Donna had four children: Harold (Anieda), Edward (Karen), Stephen (Jessica) and Randy (Angie). She was the loving grandmother to Lisa, Catherine, Brian, Grant, Matthew, Andrew, Jonathan, Brandon, Tiffany and Cameron. She was preceded in death by her parents Yau Pak Cheung and Mei Oi Cheung, her brother Wai Cheung, and her sisters Ruihe Zhang and Eliza Woo. She is survived by her brother Ted Cheung, several sisters-in-law and many nieces and nephews.

After Donna arrived in the U.S., she worked as a dishwasher and waitress at her mother-in-law’s Chinese restaurant in Youngstown and at Perkin’s Pancake House in Austintown, Ohio while raising her first three sons. Willie and Donna left Youngstown in 1970 when the city began to decline and settled in Fairview Park, Ohio. She continued to work as a waitress in the early 1970s in the Cleveland area. In December 1973, she converted an old biker tavern and opened King Wah Restaurant in Rocky River, Ohio. The restaurant was an immediate success. In 1979, she acquired a Chinese restaurant in Beachwood and renamed it “Ho Wah.” That restaurant was also an immediate success. She enjoyed serving her customers the best Chinese food in the Cleveland area.

Donna always dreamed of establishing a Chinatown in the Cleveland area. In 1988, she purchased an old warehouse at East 30th Street and Payne Avenue. With the help of her husband Willie and her son, Stephen, she remodeled the building and named it “Asia Plaza.” The building encouraged Chinese and then other Asians to acquire other buildings in the area and establish businesses. She opened the 400 seat Li Wah Restaurant in May 1991 in order to serve authentic dim sum and Chinese food. After Willie passed away in September 1991, she continued to work hard running her restaurants and pushing for further development of the Asiatown area. She acquired many other buildings and homes in the Asiatown area, including the old Cleveland Food Bank building in 2004, which was then added to the Asia Plaza building.

Donna always supported Asian community dreams in the Asiatown area. She greatly supported the establishment of the Evergreen Senior Housing facility at East 38th Street and Payne Avenue in 1997. She also encouraged and supported the development of the annual Asian Festival in the Asiatown area in 2010 and opened Asia Plaza for it. In 2014, the Cleveland International Hall of Fame recognized her for her service to the community.

Donna encouraged her children to work hard and pursue their dreams. She helped her four sons attend and graduate from college. She loved her family and encouraged her sons to marry and have their own children. She loved her ten grandchildren and encouraged them to work hard too to pursue their dreams. So far, her grandchildren include an entrepreneur, an artist, and at least three doctors. Family parties were noisy because there were so many people involved.
In her later years, she met and fell in love with Danny Auyeung. They married in 2012. They travelled to many places around the United States and the world and spent a substantial amount of time each year living in Guangzhou China.
In the end, she did what made her the most happy. She worked long hours at Li Wah throughout the Christmas holidays last month and was even providing service to customers there during her final weekend of life. She loved serving good food and talking to her customers and friends.