Sai Lau "Joe" Leung, 74, passed away peacefully Nov. 13, 2024, in his Hinsdale home, surrounded by family.
He was born in 1950 to Cheuk Wan Leung and Yuan Choi Ho in Guangzhou, China. He was the eighth child in a family that grew to nine children during a tumultuous time in China. The Communists had taken over and pushed forth their Cultural Revolution, plunging the country into chaos. When he was 13 years old, Joe was part of the millions of youth that was forced to participate in the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement," where privileged urban youth were sent to remote areas of China to do agricultural labor. He was considered part of "China's Lost Generation" where he did not have the opportunity to attend higher level education.
Uncertain of how long this political movement would drag on for, but also certain he wanted a better life for himself, he ultimately decided in 1975 to become one of the hundreds of thousands young "Freedom Swimmers" that fled mainland China by swimming shark-infested Deep Bay waters to Hong Kong.
It was only on his third attempt that he became successful in making it to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, he self-taught himself construction skills while doing many side gigs. Despite the challenging circumstances, he forever felt indebted to the kindness of the Christian community and his sixth aunt. In 1980, his aunt helped sponsor his immigration to United States to help pursue the ultimate "American Dream."
Joe always joked that he arrived in nothing but his underwear to America. He was quickly employed at a local construction company in Chicago's Chinatown while doing side jobs on his own. In 1982, he created his own construction company. He met his wife, May, through mutual friends in 1986 and quickly married in 1987. With her help, they expanded their business successfully. In the years that followed, he became a devoted father of three and moved to Hinsdale in 1995.
Joe was known to be very strong-willed, sacrificial, diligent, committed and proud. He was a die-hard fan of Chicago Bulls, win or lose. He spent his years in retirement enjoying gardening, caregiving for his wife, cooking and relentlessly pursuing renovation projects. Despite the toll that lung cancer took on his body, he refused to allow it to dictate his life and pursued all his passions until his last day on this earth.
He was preceded in death by four of his siblings.
He is survived by his wife, Manway Yang; his three children, Vania (Brian), Timothy and Ariel (Matthew); his three grandchildren, Oliver, Ethan and Kira; and his four siblings, Sai Kit, Fongyee, Funyee and Sai Hong.
Visitation is at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at Adolf & Powell Funeral Home, 7000 S Madison St., Willowbrook. Words of remembrance will be said at 11:30 a.m.
Interment is private at Clarendon Hills Cemetery in Darien.
Brian Powell Funeral Directors of Hinsdale handled the arrangements.
