There was a pleasant surprise as Brother Ed Au moved into his new senior home at ACC Care Center in Sacramento. Ed heard that brother Gaing Chan was also a resident of ACC - Ed and Gaing were reunited after not seeing each other for the past 70 years.
Even though it has been many years, they bonded as brothers just as they did in the 1940s as UC Berkeley students. As alumni in the 1950’s, both Ed and Gaing helped to purchase the 2534 Warring St house, where actives still live to this day.
Since then, Ed and Gaing have been spending their time keeping each other company, reminiscing on their time in the fraternity together, and catching up on decades’ worth of stories.
In another display of the fraternity’s ties, ACC Care Center was started by Dr. William Fong, another alumnus from Alpha Chapter, who was one of Sacramento’s first doctors of Chinese descent. Chack and Wing Chan, two Pi Alpha Phi founders, are the older blood brothers of Gaing. The five Chan brothers (Chack, Wing, Gaing, Fee, and Wee) were all part of Pi Alpha Phi and contributed immensely to the success of the fraternity.
Ed and Gaing are open to interviews from younger brothers, in person in Sacramento, or online via questions. Please send requests to richard.din (at) gmail (dot) com.