Former 1979 Guyanese ‘Mother of the Year Inez Gwendoline Chung is celebrating her 100th birthday today with family and friends in Canada.
The centenarian was born on October 26, 1914 in Georgetown and was named “mother of the year” in 1979.
As a single mother of nine, Chung worked at a store selling food processors and vacuum cleaners while starting up a young people’s club for young boys and girls in her neighbourhood. She is a devout Christian, living out her faith through social work, and serving as a bible school teacher in her church.
Chung grew up on Thomas Street near Lamaha Street, opposite the Georgetown Public Hospital and was one of the few peoples who met Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth, during a visit to Guyana in the 1950s.
She was 21 years old, when she met Vincent Percival Chung, who later became her husband. It was Boxing Day and she was invited to a lunch along with her best friend and Vincent Chung went and sat next to her.
When the time came to pull Christmas crackers, Chung pulled his, and out popped a ring. He slipped it onto her finger and declared that he was going to marry her.
She told him he was crazy for in those days such an interracial marriage was unheard of. But Chung stuck to his word and they had nine children together.
Twenty years later, however, everything changed in their young family. Vincent Chung was diagnosed with cancer and his condition began to deteriorate as the years went by. In 1955 he was flown to England alone for treatment after he became terminally ill. Chung could not go with him as she had just given birth to their last child.
The next year he died and Chung buried herself in raising their children and in her Christian faith. Her mother also helped her to care of the children. She became a very active Christian in the Clarkson Congregational Church.
Chung started to teach Sunday school and later taught it under her house every Sunday. Soon, she became a sought-after speaker at Bible Class anniversaries, Mother’s Day services at churches and other Christian gatherings, especially for women and children. Chung even started a Primary school under her house while teaching music.
She was a very ingenious person with many skills which she put to good use throughout her life. She sewed her children’s clothes and made toys and costumes for her grandchildren.
Even with such an active lifestyle, Chung served as a member of the YWCA for many years. She once held positions there as general secretary and president.
In 1983, she left Guyana to live with her youngest son and his family and never returned. Yet, Chung still recalls her days walking on the sea walls in Georgetown and cooking Metemgee as a young girl with her mother.
She said it was an important thing to turn 100 and she was “so thankful to God for my years. I have had good, good years.”
She said being kind to people and being obedient had helped her through the years. Chung also stated that she was a firm believer that children are a heritage and that unity brings strength.
“I want to enjoy the years God has given me now,” she said.
