Thick Chu Huey was born 84 years ago near Canton, China. At sixteen, he immigrated to Omaha, where he attended Technical High School and worked at the Edward Café, his father’s Chinese restaurant and the King Fong Café owned by relatives. When Chin Ah Gin, the original owner of King Fong’s, retired he gave the restaurant to the Huey family on the condition they would continue to provide jobs for new immigrants. The Huey family operated the King Fong Café for nearly five decades. Eventually, Thick Chu Huey opened Chu’s Chop Suey House on Center Street, which served Omaha customers for 40 years.
Thick Chu Huey was a talented cook, a hardworking businessman, an army veteran, and a proud American. He helped many fellow Chinese immigrants find a new home and good employment here in Omaha. He was a remarkable patriarch, not just to his large family, but to the entire Chinese American community.
Thick Chu Huey was born May 12, 1934 near Canton, China and died February 12, 2019 in Omaha, Nebraska.