Promises always kept

Marisa O’Neil

When he got a job as custodian at St. Joachim School 33 years ago,

Hau Chung made a promise to his new boss.

Chung died without breaking that promise.

“He was a man of his word,” said Paula Petersen, a Costa Mesa

resident and mother of two St. Joachim students. “He had made a

commitment to Msgr. [Thomas] Nevin that he would take care of his

church and school as long as he possibly could. I don’t think God

makes those guys anymore.”

Today, the school will close so students, staff and parents can

attend Chung’s funeral at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Costa Mesa.

He died Sept. 23 of cancer, at the age of 71.

Chung had continued working until his failing health forced him to

retire earlier this year.

Those who work at and attended the school say he was a fixture

there, more like a convivial spirit than school janitor.

“We have parents here who are alumni and remember him from when

they were children,” Cathy Dressler, the school’s administrative

manager, said. “He was not only a custodian, he was a good friend to

the children. At recess, he’d stop working and play with them.”

Chung and his wife, Wai Sin, moved to California from Hong Kong in

1969 with only $40 in their pockets, hoping to make a better life for

their family, said his daughter, Ka Lai Chung. She and her two

sisters stayed behind in Hong Kong until Nevin agreed to sponsor the

family’s immigration.

When the children arrived a year later, students from the school

made welcome signs and met them at the airport.

“He loved the kids, he loved the school, he loved everybody at St.

Joachim,” Ka Lai Chung said. “That was his second family. He adored

the kids, and they adored him.”

School secretary Mary Hartson said that once his children came

here, he embraced his new country, taking English lessons at Orange

Coast College and eventually becoming an American citizen.

A makeshift memorial on the school’s wall illustrates his

influence. Students have constructed construction paper cards calling

him “kind,” “helpful,” “happy,” “smart,” “hard working” and “a

friend.”

Lawanda Allen, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, said that

Chung often went out of his way with little touches. When she moved

into her classroom last year, she found a piece of palm bark that

Chung, a Buddhist, had painted with the face of Christ.

“He used to come in and stand at the back of the room, especially

when we showed ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ at Easter time,” teacher Joan

Ricketts said. “I guess it had an effect.”

The Sunday before he died, he was baptized for the first time,

after years of working at the Catholic school.

“He was already living the life of a Christian,” Ka Lai Chung

said. “He attended Mass with the children every day.”

For his baptismal name, Hau Chung naturally chose Joachim.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.