Joe Mun “George” Yee was born on November 16, 1907 in Zhong Shan, China. George arrived in Canada from China in 1923 at the age of thirteen after being selected by his village elders to go to Canada to help his family and village. George arrived in Canada only one month before the Head Tax was supplanted by the passing of the Chinese Immigration Act.
Upon arriving in Canada George worked as a farmer and labourer in segregated Chinese communities in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1936, George finally paid off his $500 head tax debt he received when arriving into the country.
In 1941 George married seventeen year old Yuen (Lorna) Lim, who was a Chinese woman from Cumberland, British Columbia. Yuen was born in Canada but lost her British subject status when she married George and was then considered a Chinese national by the Canadian government.
George and Yuen relocated to Black Diamond, Alberta, located in the Turner Valley, and purchased a three acre plot of land. The couple opened a market garden where they had a greenhouse, some cattle and a small shingle mill. George drove his truck to various communities in the area to sell their produce. George and Yuen had eight children; Norman Yee (born October 20, 1942), James “Jim” Yee (born February 11, 1944), Dorothy Yee (born March 14, 1946), Rose Yee (born January 6, 1948), Tom Yee (born October 10, 1949), John Yee (born January 23, 1954), and Darlene Yee (born September 22, 1957). The family was one of three Chinese families in their town.
In 1958 George became a Canadian citizen. George died on January 27, 1978, almost 30 years before the Canadian government issued an official apology to the victims of the Head Tax and Chinese Immigration Act in 2006. Yuen received a $20,000 payment as the spouse of a payee. Yuen died on July 1, 2008.