By Greg Fry

Donor steps forward to honour Kamloops WWI veteran

Aug 22, 2018 | 1:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — A noted Canadian philanthropist has opened his pocketbook to help secure the memory of a fallen WWI veteran from Kamloops.

Robert H.N. Ho has donated $1.5 million that will be directed towards the construction of the $2 million Frederick Lee Walkway in Loos-en-Gohelle, France.

Lee was among only 300 or so Canadians of Chinese heritage who were permitted to enlist with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War.

After having fought at Vimy Ridge, he was killed in action in August 1917 during the Battle of Hill 70 and has no known grave.

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Col. Mark Hutchings, Hill 70 chairman, says Ho’s donation was pivotal in enabling his team to proceed with the project.

“We are thrilled to be able to venerate the remarkable story of Frederick Lee, whose service in this country made him a role model for all Canadians,” he says. “However, this key element would not have been possible without the generous support of a notable individual — Robert H.N. Ho — a man who has a keen sense of history, who has experienced it first-hand.”

Ho was born in Hong Kong prior the Second World War and was forced to flee the city with his family after the Japanese invasion in December, 1941.

He later enjoyed a career in journalism in the United States prior to returning to Hong Kong to help manage his family’s media companies and other enterprises.

Ho later retired to Vancouver where he established The Robert H.N. Ho Foundation, which has specialized in supporting projects around the world.