James Kan 1946-2009

This summer saw the loss of many familiar ones, including Michael Jackson and Edward Kennedy. But I am mourning the loss of one much closer to home- my dad, James Kan. Obituary and photos below.

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My dad passed away on the morning of August 27, 2009. For four months, he was bravely battling a rare and aggressive form of bladder cancer. My mother, my sister and her husband, and myself, were fighting alongside him throughout the ordeal. In his final hours, he experienced very little pain, and the family was at his bedside comforting him with Scripture and prayer.

James Kuo-Sheun Kan was born in Shanghai, China on July 23, 1946 to mother Lu Oa Wen and father Kan Pai Sze. He was the youngest of five siblings. He moved to Hong Kong for high school. Upon finishing, he moved to Canada- living in Vancouver briefly before pursuing architectural studies at the University of Manitoba. In 1975, he met his future wife, Joyce Leung, who was a nurse. Upon graduation, he moved to Edmonton where there was a booming economy at the time. He married Joyce in the summer of 1978. In 1979, Joseph, the first of two children, was born. In 1982, they gave birth to their second child- Jocelyn.

After working for several architecture firms, he started his own practice in Edmonton in 1980. His office grew from working on small residential projects to larger institutional work. He had an office that at one point employed several draftsmen. Later in the 1990s, he focused more on government projects including First Nations projects in northern Alberta.

In the summer of 2005, he moved to Toronto- a warmer and livelier city- with his wife and his mother. By then, he was semi-retired, and focused more on serving in church, and making frequent trips to China. He would make it a point to visit Shanghai at least once a year, where much of his family still lived. In 2008, he went on a two-month trip to China to visit me in Beijing, now also an architect.

He was a very passionate person, remembered fondly for his energetic personality, his infectious laugh, and his enthusiasm for everything related to China. Fluent in three Chinese dialects, he was very proud of his Shanghai heritage and would talk about it at any given opportunity.

He was also a man of faith. In 2006, he re-committed his life to the Lord. When asked if he received the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior, he stepped into the microphone, and said "Yes!!" with a loud voice that resounded throughout the sanctuary. He served enthusiastically at church in choir, in fellowship, on visitations, as well as on the new building committee.

On the weekend before his unexpected passing, I had to leave on a trip to Montreal. At that time, as I prepared to leave to the train station, he said to me in Chinese,"You can go now, I do not want to inconvenience you." I wish now that I did not go on that trip, but God has a purpose for everything, and made it into a poetic moment... a final piece of wisdom from my Dad. His life was defined by putting the needs of others above his own. He was a beloved father who sacrificed everything for his family. Love, at its purest form, is sacrificial. It is by necessity inconvenient. May we stop trying to constantly satisfy our own desires, and put the needs of others- our family, our community, and the disadvantaged- above our own.

I am deeply missing his wisdom and energy. I weep over the missed opportunities, and I cannot yet imagine a future without the loving presence of my father.

Shanghai 1950, my dad is the little one in the center.

Playing in the family longtong, around 1950

When I was sick hospital, around 1983

Having a morning jian-bing, Shanghai, 2008

At a local park in Shanghai, 2008


Christmas Day, 2008