Ben Woo passed away peacefully on July 7, 2018 at Vancouver General Hospital. Ben is survived by his wife May; children Vicki (Aaron), Janet (David), and Derek (Ashley); sisters Wai Yin and Wai Chuck (Po Sun); and brother Tony (Shirley). He will be missed by his family and friends. After retiring from Telus, Ben enjoyed playing ping-pong and travelling, especially to Vegas. Thank you to the doctors at the BC Cancer Agency. A special thanks to Dr. Gill. A Memorial Service will be held at Glenhaven Memorial Chapel, 1835 E. Hasting in Vancouver at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 3789 Royal Oak Ave in Burnaby at 2:15 p.m. Section - Imperial Gardens.
Margo Henderson (Lott)
Ben's passing deeply affected me and I was saddened that I found out too late to attend his memorial service. I think many others from our class would have attended, as well. It would have been nice to honour him and give his family some measure of support.
I seem to remember that Ben came to Gladstone from Hong Kong when we were in Grade 11. He valiantly struggled with his English and it made him appear shy. John Chow took him under his wing, even though Ben was three years his senior. It was a friendship that lasted and I'm not sure whether it was Ben or John who first started working in the Information Services Department of Telus. I asked Ken what he remembered about Ben and he said, "He was always smiling."
My impression of Ben in high school was of a sweet, gentle boy. It hardly seems fair that his life has been cut short, even though he had attained his 73rd year. I consider that number of years less than acceptable. As with our other classmates who have passed, he deserved more time to be on this earth. Sadly for some, they couldn't stand the pain to be here and decided to leave. This was not the case with Ben.
I suppose this is a comment on my own mortality. I am not yet prepared to say goodbye, nor prepared to have my days end. Thinking of Ben being gone, makes me weep.