SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A memorial funeral service was coordinated by the City and County of San Francisco, civic leaders and close friends of the community to remember the iconic political activist, Rose Pak.
On Saturday morning, the memorial for Rose Pack was in San Francisco and open to the public.
Pak passed away inside her home on Sunday morning. The San Francisco Medical Examiner and Pak’s physician determined she died of natural causes. Pak recently received a kidney transplant in China.
The 68-year-old was well-known as a power political broker in San Francisco’s Chinatown community.
“We are all in a state of shock, and profoundly sad, at this moment,” said Gordon Chin, a founder and former director of Chinese Community Development Center.
Chin spoke on behalf of Pak’s family and friends.
“Rose Pak was a giant in the community, a giant in the history of this city,” Chin said. “She will be missed by everyone. But right now, it’s her close family and friends that are coping with this shocking news.”
Pak advocated for San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to win the position in 2011. Lee became the city’s first Chinese-American mayor.
Speaking at a press conference in Chinatown today with former Mayor Willie Brown and Chinatown community leaders, Mayor Ed Lee today called her death “shocking.”
“Just last week she was telling me how healthy she felt, how important it was for her to get her health back, how she was looking forward to working with us on everything from public safety to public housing in Chinatown,” Lee said.
Lee, who met Pak more than 40 years ago when he was a law student working in Chinatown, said he was “blessed” by her leadership and support, even if they did not always agree.
“You can’t always be 100 percent in agreement with Rose but you can always know exactly where she is coming from,” Lee said. “That was the key to her influence and her ability to talk to everybody, her ability to talk straight.”
Lee said in a statement, “This is a great loss to the city as a whole, and the Chinese community in particular — a community that Rose served, supported and fought for, often fiercely, her entire adult life.”
Brown, too, noted that everyone who knew Pak had a disagreement with her at some point.
“But in the end there was one thing for certain, you always knew you were wrong,” Brown said. “She didn’t let you forget it.”
Others, however, remembered Pak’s softer side, noting that she was a kind woman who was quick to make sure everyone had enough to eat and a ride home after events.
“People know Rose as a political brawler, as the most astute advisor on how to get things done around the city,” said Malcolm Yeung, deputy director at the Chinese Cultural Development Center. “But Rose was one of the kindest individuals I ever met.”
