Funeral procession through Red Bluff honors WWII veteran
Joe Chew’s funeral procession makes its way east on Walnut Street in Red Bluff Saturday. (George Johnston — Daily News)
By GEORGE JOHNSTON | gjohnston@redbluffdailynews.com | Red Bluff Daily News
PUBLISHED: August 2, 2021 at 10:59 a.m. | UPDATED: August 2, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.
RED BLUFF — A funeral procession through downtown Red Bluff Saturday honored World War II veteran and longtime resident Joe Chew.
Chew was born Dec.23, 1921 in Red Bluff to immigrants from Canton, China. He attended Red Bluff Union High School and was a part of the basketball and tennis teams. Basketball and tennis were lifelong loves of Chew’s. He would avidly watch the NBA Channel and ESPN for basketball games and tennis matches.
Joe Chew is laid to rest Saturday at Oak Hill Cemetery in Red Bluff. (George Johnston — Daily News)
During his senior year studying engineering at UC Berkeley, Chew was drafted into the 1908th Army Service Unit After the war, he worked as a financial clerk in Red Bluff and finished school at Chico State with help from the GI Bill. A VA loan gave Chew the ability to buy his first home on Reeds Creek Road, which was home for most of his life.
Zara Grandquist lived next to Chew growing up. She remembers he ate a lot of vegetables.
“He brought all the scrap vegetables over to Mom, and she would feed them to a chicken, and we said, he’s gonna live forever,” Grandquist said.
Her husband, Reese, wrote to Chew when he moved down to Sacramento and heard he always read his letters.
“It was one of the things you can do,” Reese Grandquist said. “It is so few things you can do for a neighbor that’s aged and has, because of physical necessity, to be somewhere else away from his home.”
Chew was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for Service in August 2020 and kept busy owning and selling commercial and residential buildings, managing rentals and investing.
Chew passed away on June 1 at 99 years old. His family organized a funeral that included traditional Chinese customs.
Granddaughter Jessica Casas spoke during the service about how much her grandfather meant to her.
“I can not imagine my life without him,” Casas said.
When Saturday’s service concluded, Chew was transported by loved ones to a hearse, where his procession began.
It was led by the Shasta Veterans Escort and visited some of Chew’s favorite spots in Red Bluff. These included the first Chew family restaurant site, his last commercial building sale, his place of birth and his home on Reeds Creek Road.
Chew was buried next to his wife Helen in the family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery.
The Helen & Joe Chew Foundation is being created to provide scholarships to Red Bluff Union High School students.
Casas said her family planned to complete the Chinese rituals Sunday by disposing of the ghost paper and incense ash inside the ancient ancestral temple Joss House in Weaverville.
