Note: Before the Family History Expo in November, The Star asked readers to submit family names to see what could be found on newspapers.com. We spent 30 minutes on some of them to see what we could find.
Judith C. Lee gave us the names of her parents and grandparents. Her father was William June Wong and her mother was Margaret P. Wong, nee Ban.
This is what we were able to find on newspapers.com in 30 minutes.
William June Wong was born in Flagstaff, Ariz., and lived there all of his life except when he served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He owned and operated the June Furniture Company.
His wife, Margaret âPinkieâ (Ban) Wong, a Tucson native, was an interior designer who graduated from the University of Arizona and worked with her husband. They were well known in the community.
William and Margaret are often referred to in articles as Mr. and Mrs. June; however, our subject gave the surname as Wong.
Williamâs fatherâs name as given by Lee is Sai Jit Wong, but he was called June Wong in newspaper articles.
He was born in San Francisco, according to an article in the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff, then went to China where he married Dear Yu and they had their first child, son June Wong Jr., before moving to Flagstaff. Another article indicates he was born in China, but both articles say he did marry there.
Leeâs grandfather opened a laundry in Flagstaff and then bought and opened a restaurant. He and Dear Yu had nine children, some of whom used the last name June while some used Wong.
Leeâs father, William June Wong, died in 1986, and her mother Margaret died in 2015. Her parents were Carmen Lee and Ng Ban Sing. We did not get the opportunity to explore this side of the family.
