Cheuk Ching Seto

Cheuk Ching Seto immigrated from Hoiping, Guangdong, China, to the US as a young man. After living a few years in California, he moved to Portland Oregon and became a Chinese food restaurant owner and Chinese American restaurant industry community leader in Portland and Vancouver. Cheuk Ching Seto was a retired Chinese food restaurant owner. Born in May of 1942 in Chek Ham in Hoi Ping county, Guangdong province, Peoples Republic of China, to Hung Seto and Yee Yuet Sheung. From a family of aristocrats, Cheuk was the oldest son and second in a family of four sons and three daughters. Seto Chun Nam, Cheuks grandfather, was a very wealthy and powerful figure in Chek Ham owning businesses such as a rice factory, line of buses, and many other local establishments. Cheuk and two brothers and a sister and father had to flee and leave Hoi Ping for the United States when Communism spread in China. Cheuks father Hung Seto was a university educated man and was able to swim to Hong Kong and earn money using his excellent calligraphy skills to help to get the kids to freedom. His mother and his 2nd younger brother(a twin) and 3rd sister stayed in a poor village that the government relocated the family to until 1980. Cheuk had three brothers and three sisters, the twin 2nd brother died before the remaining family was able to go to the United States. Despite the separation of the family, Cheuk was not afraid; in fact he was happy to leave and was looking forward to his trip to the United States. When Cheuk and his father, Hung Seto and two brothers, Eddie and James, and sister Trudy arrived in the United states, their first stop was Los Angeles California. During this time in California Cheuk worked in various restaurants learning how to cook and learning English. He enjoyed cooking and he realized he was very good at it. Cheuk and his family did not stay in California very long they wanted to plant their own roots and decided to move to Portland Oregon to be close to his sister Kay Seto Wong who had married a local businessman earlier. He worked hard and saved money in his fathers restaurant, Columbia Caf in Washougal Washington for several years to fulfill his dream of starting his Chinese food restaurant. Before finding his restaurant, he married his childhood sweetheart Frances Chow. He has two sons, Arthur and Andrew and two daughters Anna and Amy. He also has ten grandchildren Courtney, Alexander, Maxwell, Adelaide, Kallee, Elisobeth, Mya, Caden, Jace, and Paxton. For the last twenty three years there was no doubt that his grandchildren were the center of his universe. Cheuk opened up his restaurant, Hong Kong Restaurant in Vancouver Washington. He was a pioneer in the restaurant industry for the Chinese community for the next few decades. He was integral in helping many Chinese entrepreneurs to open their first restaurants. He was very generous with his time and knowledge, always willing to help people with anything to do with the restaurant business. Cheuks dream of opening a restaurant to share good food with the world and provide a warm space to bring everyone together and expose them to delicious Chinese style cooking was indeed fulfilled. His skills in the kitchen were well known by the community and people lined up at his little Hong Kong Restaurant for hours to get a taste of his cooking. His charm and humor had a way with drawing people. In 1980 Cheuk was able to help his mother Yee Yuet Sheung and sister Sharon Seto Huang immigrate from China. He had not seen either of them in person in over 20 years before they came to the United States. Cheuk worked in his restaurants for over 30 years before he retired in 2000. Cheuk had a passion for playing games of chance. After he retired you could often find him playing the dogs and horses at the local tracks or playing pai gow. He also enjoyed playing mah jong with his friends for hours at a time. There is no place he would rather be than eating dim sum or having a family meal. The simple things in life were important to him. The Chinese restaurant industry was a large part of Cheuk Ching Setos life. This ultimately provided him the opportunity to create a better life for himself and his children. Cheuk Ching Seto passed away at home in his sleep on April 12th 2018. There will be a memorial dinner honoring Cheuk Ching Seto on April 29th at 5pm at a local Portland restaurant. If you would like more information on attending please email your name and phone number along with how many in your party that would like to attend to setohongkong@gmail.com

Cheuk Ching Seto

May 13, 1942 - April 18, 2018