George Sowhong Wong

George, beloved husband, brother, father, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at age 101 with members of his family by his side.  George was born on March 10, 1924 in Oakland, California to parents Bing and LeeShee Wong.  He was the middle of five children and the only son.  He graduated from Oakland High School in 1942 and subsequently enrolled at University of California, Berkeley.  He enlisted in the US Army Air Forces during World War II after a year of studying at UC Berkeley.  Having a science background, the army sent him to Reed College in Portland, Oregon to study meteorology.  While in Portland, he met and fell for a pretty, effervescent young woman, Cecilia who also had roots in Oakland.  However, the relationship was not meant to be at that time; the Army had other plans for George.  Given his bilingual ability (English and Chinese), he was sent to language school at Ft. Snelling, Minnesota and eventually to Shanghai, China.  George supervised 100 employees both military and civilian responsible for the transmittal of US military correspondence in the US China Theater of Operations.  More importantly, he met and married Therese Tu while stationed in Shanghai.

In 2020 George and his fellow Chinese American veterans were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for US Military Intelligence Service, Chinese Division during World War II.

George was honorably discharged in 1949 and returned to California with his bride and resumed his studies at UC Berkeley eventually receiving a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering.  In 1950, he and Therese relocated to the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles.  As he started his career in aerospace, he and Therese also started their family having 4 children:  Leslie, Ghislaine (“Gigi”), Gina and Michael.  In 1958, he joined Rocketdyne (a division of Rockwell International) as a senior engineer.  The Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs relied on the booster engines he helped design to launch them into space.  He also designed turbine engines used for domestic applications as well.  In 1980, he was chosen Rocketdyne’s Engineer of the Year.  George retired after 30 years with Rocketdyne.

Meanwhile, in 1980 George reconnected with Cecilia (“Ceis”) and their love blossomed into romance worthy of a novel or movie.  Cecilia had 3 children:  Shelley, Robin and Michael.   George and Ceis married in 1983 and traveled between Los Angeles and Seattle supporting their blended family.  

George enjoyed sports (especially college sports: Tennis, football and basketball.  Every year he would fill out his March Madness bracket and watched as many games as humanly possible.  He played tennis and ping pong.  He and Cecilia enjoyed traveling the world and ballroom dancing.  The tango and rumba were his favorites.  They made a truly elegant couple on and off the dance floor.

George had sweet tooth.   Mounds candy bars, Boston Cream donuts and root beer floats were his favorites.

He is survived by sister, Janet (age 99), children:  Leslie (Bill), Ghislaine, Gina (Rick), Michael (Yoshiko), Shelley, Robin, Michael (Amanda), grandchildren: Justen, Mizuki, Kanako, Tony (Mary), Philip (Mel), Brandon (Mikayla), great grandchildren: Magnolia, Jasmine, Piper.

George is preceded in death by sisters Jennie (aged 95), Jessie (aged 101) and Betty (aged 93), Therese and Cecilia.  

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