Click here to read Dr. Quock's Remarks
Dr. Collin Quock '57 received the Christ the King Award Nov. 23 at SI before a host of friends and family. Alumni Association President Jeff Columbini '79 read the citation, below, which was written by Alumni Director John Ring '86.
"The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service."
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In the early 1900s, San Francisco's Chinatown was isolated from the rest of the city, as the Chinese population had little access to schools, hospitals and important government services. Anti-Chinese sentiment ran high, with the Chinese Exclusion Act limiting immigration from China and the city's health department deciding to quarantine Chinatown during the early-century bubonic plague outbreak rather than opening health facilities to heal the afflicted. Ripples of change finally came in 1925 with the opening of the San Francisco Chinese Hospital the first and only Chinese hospital in America. While Chinatown had made some major advances by the early 1940s, much more work needed to be done.
It was against this backdrop that Collin Poy Quock '57 was born and raised. His parents, Poy Chong Quock and Ling Sai Quan Quock, came separately to America from China's Guan Dung province, settled in San Francisco's Chinatown and raised three children Dick, Fannie and Collin. The Quocks were fixtures in the Chinese community. Collin's father, Poy Chong, ran a successful import-export business and served for five terms as president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Poy Chong was a generous and influential community leader, and his youngest son, Collin, would take the lessons he learned from his father with him along his life's journey.
Today we gather to honor Dr. Collin Quock as the recipient of Saint Ignatius College Preparatory's highest alumni honor, the Christ the King Award. A member of SI's class of 1957, Dr. Quock has served his Church, his family, the Chinese community and the City and County of San Francisco with dignity and honor for over half a century.
Collin Quock was born at Chinese Hospital on Feb. 4, 1940. In his early years, Collin's life was centered in Chinatown. He learned to swim at the Chinese YMCA, joined the Boy Scouts there and became involved in numerous social and athletic groups at St. Mary's Chinese Center. He was educated at St. Mary's Chinese Mission, where he was awarded the 4-year Paulist Fathers‚ High School Scholarship, allowing him to attend the high school of his choice. He chose Saint Ignatius High School, where he participated in track, wrote for Inside SI, managed the varsity basketball team, became a lifetime member of the California Scholarship Federation and developed lasting friendships. Upon graduating from SI, Collin went to USF for three years before transferring to UCSF to finish his bachelor‚s degree and pursue a career in medicine.
Collin earned his medical degree from UCSF in 1964 and received training at Georgetown University and St. Elizabeth's Hospital of Boston through the late 1960s. It was during these years that he met the love of his life, Betty, whom he married in 1967. Collin then served his country for three years during the Vietnam War as Captain of the Medical Corps of the U.S. Air Force at Hamilton Air Force Base. For these efforts, Dr. Quock earned a National Defense Ribbon and an Outstanding Unit Citation.
Dr. Quock returned to San Francisco in 1970 and has built a remarkable record of service and accomplishment during his professional career. He has published more than 40 articles in his field, is a member of 18 professional societies, and has been affiliated with six San Francisco hospitals. He has been a groundbreaker in many ways, starting the Cardiopulmonary Unit at Chinese Hospital, the Federation of Chinese American and Chinese Canadian Medical Societies and the Chinese Community Cardiac Counsel for general education as part of the American Heart Association.
His community work has been equally impressive, as he served on SI's Board of Regents from 1985 to 1994, St. Rose Academy‚s Board of Directors from 1983 to 1986, the Board of Governors for USF's Alumni Association from 1982 to 1984, the Board of Directors for the Poi Yuk Foundation and St. Mary's Chinese Language School from 1989 to 1996, and on the San Francisco Archdiocese's Re-Organization Committee from 1979 to 1980. For the past 13 years, he has served as the General Chairman of the capital campaign to rebuild Saint Mary's Chinese Schools and Center, raising more than $15 million for that cause.
Taking after his father, Dr. Quock has tirelessly served the Chinese Community. He was the first cardiologist to practice in Chinatown and has assumed the role of an ambassador and leader in the Chinese community."My gene for community service came from my dad," says Dr. Quock, proudly noting that his dad served on the founding board of Directors for Chinese Hospital, where Collin later served as the Chief of Staff. Fr. John LoSchiavo, 42 and the 2007 Christ the King Award winner, notes that "Collin has been a real bridge between the Chinese Community and SI and USF, his alma maters." He has been recognized on a national level for his work on health issues affecting the Chinese community and on a global level when he received the Papal medal Pro Ecclesia et Pro Pontifice in 2000, the second highest laity award bestowed by the Pope.
Former SI Vice President Steve Lovette '63 added that "Collin is supremely well-organized and is a man of impeccable character and humility. He is a wonderful, caring and hard-working doctor " the best of the best." Collin would tell you that his wife Betty is "the best of the best," as they have been happily married for 41 years and have raised five wonderful and accomplished children (Justin '86, Lisa, Jason '93, Erika and Valerie '99).
Dr. Quock's children are certain that he is the best dad in the world. His oldest daughter, Lisa, notes that he was named "Father of the Year" in Chinatown when she was younger. Lisa tells a story of her father driving her to school one day on Portola Drive when he saw a women lying in the street after being struck by a motorcycle. He pulled the car over, administered CPR to the woman, yet still was able to hail a cab to get his daughter away from the scene of the accident and to school on time. "That is my dad," says Lisa. "He is a great doctor, a good Samaritan and a wonderful father all at once."
In his spare hours, Dr. Quock loves to travel and spend time with his children and five grandchildren. He also enjoys following his beloved '49ers, Warriors and Giants, which proves that he is a man of great patience and understanding.
If Longfellow was right when he said that the life of a man is to be measured by "active charity and in willing service," this son of Chinatown is a giant of a man. Never wavering from his father's mission of building bridges to the San Francisco Chinese community, Collin has spent a lifetime tirelessly serving his Church, family and community with selflessness and distinction.
These remarks were delivered by Collin Quock ’57 at the Christ the King Mass last November.
Mr. Columbini, Reverend Fathers, Dear Friends,
Thank you all for being here. Just your presence is an honor. I especially want to thank the Selection Committee and the Alumni Association for this high recognition. I appreciate all the work Mr. John Ring and his staff have put into this event.
While I acknowledge my work as Mr. Columbini has recited, I feel flattered and embarrassed to be placed in the company of men like the previous recipients present today. Thank you, gentlemen and families,
for being here this morning. Thank you for the example you have set for the rest of us.
I realize that I am the first Asian alumnus to receive this distinguished award. I hope that this event will lead to an even closer relationship between St. Ignatius and the Asian community.
There is an old Chinese saying: When you drink from a stream, think of its source. S.I. is a mountain stream which has given me drink all my life. I am extremely grateful.
Like everyone else in America, including Native Americans, I am lucky to be heir of at least two great heritages. I can look one way and enjoy five thousand years of rich human experience. I can turn another way and be thrilled by a courageous 232 years-old political experiment. Lifting my gaze upwards, I find yet a third heritage, my Catholicism, bequeathed to me by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, the Paulist Fathers, and the great Society of Jesus. And I share at least two-thirds of my good fortune with most of you! I look upon diversity as a marvelous blessing! Diversity is so enriching.
The greatest commandment of all, Jesus said, is to love God unreservedly; and the second, is to love thy neighbor as thyself. That flowed right through to us at St. Ignatius, which exhorts us to be “men and women for others.” As a Boy Scout, I was taught to “Do a good deed daily.” But as I grew older, I realized that the day abounds with opportunities to do good deeds.
I see brother physicians here who daily treat many indigent patients for very little financial return. There are nurses and technicians here who come to work at the hospital early and stay late, sometimes working double shifts, to do their thing in support of their patients. I see dedicated teachers who give of their own time and self to help their students grow. There are priests and religious among us who have dedicated their entire lives to serving our Church. Every one here I know in some way or other renders a service to make this world better. It is my privilege to know you, to work with you, and to celebrate with you today the image of Jesus as the Servant King. He loves us and is here to help us. He is here to be sure the hungry are fed, and the thirsty obtain drink.
I want to say a few words in particular to the young. Situations for you to serve God better are all around us. I want to challenge you to seek out something unique. I would encourage you to volunteer for a worthwhile cause – such as preserving some aspect of our environment special to you. Volunteerism is enriching.
Staffers often complain that volunteers are unreliable. Of course, that depends on the volunteer. Once you commit you should follow through. Never forget that the greatest volunteer of all time is Jesus Christ. As a community volunteer, you walk in his footsteps.
Back to diversity, which doubles and triples our opportunities to serve God better. Each of us in our own heritage can find a niche that is useful and enjoyable. I know a lady who escorts elderly travelers to China to re-visit their past. She slows down the bus, makes sure there are frequent stops, takes care of their special needs. I know some Native Americans who worked with me as volunteers in Washington on the national cholesterol program and took their new knowledge back to their own tribes. I have worked with Hispanics to translate heart-healthy literature into language that was culturally unique just to Mexicans or just to Puerto Ricans or to Cubans.
The Catholic Church is full of opportunities for service, from being an usher or a lector to praising God in the choir. A lady in my parish brings Communion to the homebound. Others I know have worked in diocesan, state and national Catholic organizations for the Greater Glory of God.
We are exhorted not to hide our light under a basket. John Kennedy told us, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Every one of us here has much for which to be thankful. And every one of us, young and not so young, could probably do a little more to share our gifts.
You have already heard the Prayer of St. Ignatius from Fr. Prieto. It is so inspiring.
Again, thank you for this tremendous honor.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude and love to my own wonderful family, especially my dear wife, Betty, for all their hard work and support on my behalf.
November 23, 2008
Feast of Christ the King