May Jane Quan

May Jane Quan, age 92, passed away peacefully on July 4, 2019. A 58-year resident of Monterey Park, CA, May was born Jane May Ng on May 10, 1927, in San Francisco, CA to Frank and Yee Shee Ng.

During her early school years, one teacher inadvertently called her May Jane during roll call. A headstrong child, May preferred the change and it stuck. In 1935 the family made a decision to move to China. May did not want to go citing she loved her school and her friends. She got her way and as a result, May and her father Frank remained while the rest of the family left for China. Once the family returned, plans were made to move the entire family to Los Angeles where Frank opened Marianna Market.

May was a 1945 graduate of Roosevelt High School. She had part-time jobs during the summers shelling walnuts and packing Fig Newtons. May also had a tremendous fascination and love for watching beauty pageants, attending Hollywood premieres, and collecting hundreds of autographs from movie stars.

In 1948 May went on vacation to San Francisco to visit her cousin Rose. May noticed a strapping young buck within the complex and asked cousin Rose for an introduction. It was then when May met her future husband, Kay Quan. After a whirlwind courtship, they married on August 25, 1948.

They eventually settled in Los Angeles and had five children (Anita, Larry, Judy, Norman and Diane). May attended the Marinello School of Beauty to become a beautician. She also worked several years for Pacific Bell as a "0" operator. She spent 17+ years as a clerk typist for Los Angeles County supporting the engineering and fire departments.

May's greatest pride was raising those five kids. She always said she wanted to be surrounded by them when she got old. Her priority was that everyone would get a good education. As an example, if reading was a weak area, she spent days if not months by their side to turn that from a deficiency to a strength. She was also an active member of the PTA. She eagerly looked forward to family gatherings and vacations.

May lived life to the fullest through simple pleasures. May was an avid coupon clipper, often picking up items for free or a couple of cents. Even after her kids moved out and got married, she'd still present each one with care packages during family gatherings. She was obsessed with seniors maintaining their physical health. She regularly attended and dragged an unwilling Kay to "Silver Sneakers" exercise classes and Senior Center line dancing classes. She also found she had a knack for teaching line dancing so Kay was in trouble now. Her biggest passion? VIVA LAS VEGAS! Known for her winning TwistAngle-Toss move with the dice, she was quite a sight at the casino craps table.

A funeral will be held at 1pm on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at White Emerson Mortuary, 13304 Philadelphia St., Whittier, California. Interment will follow at Rose Hills Memorial Park, also in Whittier.