stories by joe rosato jr

Residents of Chinese Boys Home Reunite Over Memories

NBC Universal, Inc.

The 80 and 90-something-year-old Chinese men shuffling into Millbrae's Tai Wu restaurant on a recent day had much more to share than just lunch. They were there to share a unique camaraderie as children who'd once lived in the Chung Mei Boys Home, an El Cerrito facility that took in Chinese boys between 1935 and 1954. 

Several times a year, the men and their wives gather together over hot tea and steaming pork buns to compare notes about their time in the home and life under its founder, Dr. Charles Shepherd, the British Baptist minister who founded Chung Mei Home and ran it with the precision of a military academy. Shepherd had witnessed dozens of abandoned and hungry children on the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown and felt compelled to do something. 

"Definitely there’s no other institution like this and never will be," said Richard Mar, who lived in the home from 1948 to 1953.

Shepherd established the original Chung Mei Home in Berkeley and then relocated it to El Cerrito in 1935 after outgrowing the previous home. The original El Cerrito building, which now houses a school, stands at 1800 Elm St. and has since been added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Buildings. 

The original Chung Mei Boys Home in El Cerrito is now a school.
Joe Rosato Jr./NBC Bay Area
The original Chung Mei Boys Home in El Cerrito is now a school. The building is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Buildings.

In its day, the home was a last refuge for Chinese boys who, because of anti-Asian laws and sentiments, weren't welcome in any other facilities. The home took in boys who were orphaned but also many like Mar whose single parents couldn't care for them. 

"I think it was very unique because of the fact we learned a lot of values, Christian values at that time," Mar said. "We learned discipline. We learned the value of hard work." 

The days were regimented. Bells would ring throughout the day, summoning the boys to the next activity, starting in the morning. 

"When the second bell rings you have to have your foot on the floor ready to go," said William Lee, who was orphaned and moved into the home when he was 5 years old and stayed the next 10. 

A typical day would begin with a chapel service that included hymn singing and a short inspirational talk from Shepherd, whom the boys called "captain." There were chores -- the younger boys might pick up paper from the fields and older boys would plant tomatoes and flowers. Rules were expected to be followed. 

Mar recalled a time he was taken to Shepherd's office after he'd gotten in trouble. But rather than punish him, Shepherd picked up a plate and used it as a metaphor to convey a lesson. If he dropped the plate and it broke, he explained, it would never be the same. By punishing Mar, he reasoned, it might also damage their relationship for good. Mar got off with a warning. 

But others didn't fare as well. Former resident Philip Chan remembered his punishment for breaking rules was having to walk laps around the building's flagpole for several hours. 

"Chung Mei was a piece of my history," Mar said. "I have good and bad memories of that." 

A group photo shows some of the boys who lived in the Chung Mei Boys Home.
Courtesy Phil Chan
A group photo shows some of the boys who lived in the Chung Mei Boys Home, which moved to El Cerrito in 1935 and operated until 1954.

Inside Millbrae's Tai Wu Restaurant, the Chung Mei alumni swapped stories above the luncheon din, spinning noodles and dim sum between one another the tabletop turntable. Several years ago, the men reunited in the original El Cerrito building and were instrumental in getting it added to the National Register -- both as an homage to the home and Shepherd.

They began gathering several years ago after realizing time was marching on and their numbers were growing thinner. Now they meet up four times a year. 

"I’m happy to be able to meet alumni who went through the same experience I did," said Ray Tom, who lived in the home from 1948 to 1954. "We all went through some similar experiences. We all survived and did well." 

Paul Chan Jr. and his brother Philip moved into the home in 1946. Paul was 6 years old. Their mother worked at San Francisco Chinatown's famous Forbidden City nightclub and he said she couldn't take care of the boys. Phillip played drums in the home's marching band, donning military garb and marching in parades around the Bay Area on Chinese holidays. Paul remembered happily playing with other kids in the yard, oblivious to his unique station in life. 

Those stories spilled across the lunch table as the men conversed over oft-replenished pots of hot tea, finding comfort in the kindred spirits and the unique memories from seven decades back. 

"These are memories of what created us, who we are now," said Chan Jr.

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