‘Dedication’ drove Marigold founder

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/07/2017 (3018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wally Woo, the head of Winnipeg’s Marigold restaurants until a recent illness, learned a lesson one day in the early 1950s that stayed with him for a lifetime.

Woo had to work in his uncle’s Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day and started to complain. No one else had to work on Christmas, he groused, and there he was, peeling shrimp.

His uncle had a short but lasting reply.

“You work hard, and someday every day will be like Christmas,” he told him.

Woo, 82, passed away on Canada Day.

There were once as many as eight Marigold restaurants around the city serving Cantonese food. Family was a key to its success, in addition to quality food and service, Woo’s sons said.

“The reason we expanded to eight locations is we had so many relatives that wanted to work,” said son Richie Woo, who runs the Marigold on Inkster Avenue. Family members own individual outlets but stick to the same recipes.

Wally Woo was born Jan. 8, 1935 — the same day as Elvis Presley, his family noted. His father died during the Second World War when Woo was 10, and he emigrated in 1950 from Guangzhou in China — known to westerners as Canton — at age 15.

He came to Canada alone with $8 in his pocket and worked in his uncle’s restaurant in Saskatoon, which was called Marigold.

Wally is the name Woo adopted in his new country. His given name was Kaywai.

Woo had started a restaurant in North Battleford, Sask., when his uncle approached him about operating a restaurant in Winnipeg.

The first Marigold opened in Winnipeg on St. Mary’s Road in 1968.

Woo was later joined by his brothers Roger and Randy when they immigrated to Canada.

The second Marigold was on Portage Avenue at Wallasey Street, and the third on Osborne Street. Other locations included McPhillips Street and Logan Avenue, King Street, Henderson Highway, Ellice Avenue and Empress Street, and Pembina Highway. Woo ran the restaurant on Portage Avenue and oversaw quality control for all the restaurants.

Marigold distinguished itself with Cantonese cooking technique using flash fry, woks and sweet and sour sauces, but not too spicy, eldest son Dr. Nobby Woo said.

“My dad wasn’t a complex man but was driven by hard work and by dedication to his craft.”–Richie Woo

Nobby said a friend once did a university research paper on Marigold and discovered it was the only family business in North America with eight locations in a city Winnipeg’s size.

Nobby is a surgeon, and brother Casey is a family physician.

The brothers work in a building next to the Marigold on St. Mary’s Road, a building previously owned by their father. Their sister, Tinla, is a registered nurse.

“My dad wasn’t a complex man but was driven by hard work and by dedication to his craft,” Richie said.

“Growing up, we didn’t have a normal childhood where dad came home at five. We didn’t see him that often when we were younger, but as we got older, we tagged along and worked with him.”

“It’s a hard life. A lot of work, a lot of hours,” Nobby said. But his dad loved it.

“He was a straight shooter,” Nobby said. “He’d always help you out in a jam, and he’d never judge you.”

Woo had been ill for more than a year after being diagnosed with an aortic dissection. He still showed up for work every day up until illness stopped him.

All four remaining Marigold restaurants on St. Mary’s Road, Portage Avenue, Osborne Street and Inkster Boulevard are owned by Wally’s family. He is survived by his wife, Enid, his four children and many grandchildren.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca