Michael Yui Fong

Michael Yui Fong, also known as “Mike”, was born in 1953 in Canton, China. He was the only child of Hung Ling and Yook Fong. His early years were in Hong Kong, where in his free time, he learned how to play guitar and became the lead singer/guitarist of a band.

In 1969, Mike immigrated to the United States, settling in Sacramento, CA. He attended Sutter Middle School. During ESL class, his teacher would play records to help the students learn English. One day, the teacher played “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” by Scott McKenzie. Much to everyone’s surprise, Mike, who knew little to no English, started singing along. His grasp of the English language continued to improve through singing songs by the Beatles and from the Sound of Music. He also graduated with the Principal's Honor Roll.

During this time, Mike was invited to attend a home bible study and youth group, which evolved into Royal Ambassadors at Sacramento Chinese Baptist Church. In 1970, he trusted Christ as His Lord and Savior and was baptized. He went on to become a worship leader at the church in 1971. During a time when worship music was conservative, Mike was a pioneer, being the first to introduce guitar to the worship service.

Mike attended Sacramento High School and Sacramento City College before transferring to and graduating from UC Davis in 1976 with a B.S. in Electronic Engineering. He started his career at McClellan Air Force Base.

Mike met his wife, Grace at Sacramento Chinese Baptist Church. He was singing in the choir, and she was playing piano. In addition to the beautiful piano playing, he noticed Grace had a “bubbly walk”, which caught his eye. Mike offered to give Grace a ride back to UC Davis (where she was a student at the time) after choir practice. Those rides turned into engineering tutoring sessions, watching on-campus movies together, long talks, and a shared love of music.

In order to have permission to marry Grace, Mike needed to obtain a master’s degree (per his future mother-in-law’s request). As a result, he attended the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, in which McClellan Air Force Base covered his room, board, tuition, and salary. He graduated with a M.S. in Logistics Management.

Mike and Grace were married in 1983 and settled in Sacramento before having their two daughters, Francesca and Ariana.

Mike served as a worship leader for over 50 years. It was his joy to serve alongside his family, members of Sacramento Chinese Baptist Church, and Laguna Chinese Baptist Church. He had a passion for mentoring and building up the next generation of worship leaders.

He worked for Hewlett Packard for 14 years before transitioning to Defense Microelectronics Activity, where he retired in 2019.

Near the end of his faith journey, in addition to leading worship, Mike enjoyed serving on the Maintenance Team and playing ping pong at the Senior Gospel Center weekly.

Mike and Grace were married for 40 wonderful years. He is survived by and blessed with a daughter and son-in-law, Francesca and Julius, a daughter and son-in-law, Ariana and Daniel, all of whom are believers, and one grandson, Jadon.

To donate in Mike’s honor, checks can be made to Laguna Chinese Baptist Church (memo: In Memory of Mike Fong).