Jogger followed a superhuman, shirtless exercise regime
There was no question which photograph to choose when it came time for Chi Ping Chan’s family to select something for their beloved father and grandfather’s obituary.
It was the photo that captured the man at the age of 83 doing what made him a legend in southwest Edmonton through the 1980s, 1990s and well into the 2000s: running shirtless down a snowy sidewalk in the dead of winter, head covered with a toque, arms wrapped up to his elbows with massive mittens and shoulders slightly hunched in his distinctive running style.
“This is, in a way, iconic,” his youngest son, Dr. Ming Chan, said of the image. “When we think about him, he would diligently and conscientiously brave the elements, no matter what it was.”
Chan didn’t move to Edmonton until 1983, but between an exercise regime that grandson Joe Chan described as superhuman and an ability to make fast and lasting friendships despite any language barriers, the senior left his mark.
Chan died May 29 at Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Hospital from lymphoma. He was 91.
Even before Chan moved to Edmonton and infused himself in its mythology, he had lived a full life.
Born on Oct. 10, 1920, he grew up in a small village in China’s Guangzhou province. The eldest son of a poor family, he received one year of formal education before he had to leave school and take on any job that needed to be done, be it on the family farm or elsewhere in the village.
When Japan invaded, Chan fled to Hong Kong at his father’s urging, making the dangerous 320-kilometre trek by foot. There, during the Second World War, Chan met his wife, Chan Wong. Their marriage lasted for more than six decades, until his wife’s death in March 2011.
After the war, Chan worked for the government as a labourer, building and maintaining public works projects and working his way up to foreman. He held that job until he retired, in addition to countless part-time jobs that his six children remember him working to support the family.
Once retired, Chan and his wife moved to Canada, which several of their children already called home. They started in Vancouver, but two years later moved to Edmonton, where daughter Wai Doyle-Chan was training as a specialist.
One of the most inspiring things about Chan’s athletic legacy is that he did not start running until his fifties, when a doctor diagnosed him with Type 2 diabetes.
And why no shirt in all but the coldest temperatures? Ming said it was simply the way his father felt comfortable running. He’d leave the house wearing something, then strip the layers off as he got hot. He seemed to have an extremely warm core, Ming said.