– Picture by Moses Wong.
OBITUARY
JANET LEE SOON NEO (Sept 20, 1940 – Jan 2, 2012)
MRS JANET WONG SOON NEO, wife of the Rev Michael Wong Chee Wun, passed away peacefully on Jan 2, 2012.
A Memorial Service was held at Toa Payoh Methodist Church TRAC Sanctuary on Jan 9.
Many will remember the late Mrs Wong for her Peranakan cooking, especially in the Women’s Society of Christian Service (WSCS), in which she played an active role. In recent years, the Seniors’ Fellowship had been another ministry that Mrs Wong participated in.
She became a pastor’s wife in 1964 and followed the traditional concept of being a ministry partner to her husband, even when he was called out in the middle of the night to counsel a would-be “jumper”.
Her second son, Moses, recalls waking up in the mornings to find a new “uncle” or “auntie” in the house whom his parents would minister to and help. Mrs Wong has been a homemaker since the birth of her first son Aaron in 1965.
After the Rev Wong’s retirement in 2003, Mrs Wong continued to minister alongside her husband in his active retirement, even helping to plant a church in Malaysia. A constant partner to the Rev Wong’s pioneering ministry, Mrs Wong exemplified the role of a godly wife and mother to younger women.
Those who knew her personally agree that she was very firm about doing what was right, and in the right way. She placed others before herself in many areas of her life: at home, in church, and even quite literally in the marketplace – Toa Payoh Market, Lorong Ah Soo Market and Yishun Market.
A friend, Mdm Lau Kan How, said of her: “Although she was stricken with cancer since 2003, she was able to keep her eyes on Jesus knowing that He will give her strength, joy and peace. She was indeed a wonderful Christian, an excellent role model to all who came in contact with her.”
Mrs Wong leaves her husband, two sons, daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.