elevated BbQ89
November 3, 1951 – July 7, 2023

elevated BbQ89 Visitation
Wednesday, July 19, 2023 – 2:00pm-4:00pm & 6:00pm-8:00pm

elevated BbQ89 Holy Cross Catholic Funeral Home
211 Langstaff Road East, Thornhill, ON, L3T 3Z6

elevated BbQ89 Funeral Mass
Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 10:30am
Chapel of St. Joseph – Holy Cross Catholic Funeral Home

elevated BbQ89 Click here to view the funeral mass

elevated BbQ89 Interment
Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery
8361 Yonge Street, Thornhill, ON, L3T 2C7

elevated BbQ89 Obituary
A Hero Among Us

elevated BbQ89 With bittersweetness, we announce the passing of our beloved wife, mother, sister, and friend Louisa Suk-Hing Lai Siu on Friday July 7, 2023 at the age of 71 at Brampton Civic Hospital following a ~9 months-long battle with pancreatic cancer. She leaves behind her husband Peter, her twin daughters Clarisse (Kayvon) and Stephanie, her siblings Lily, John (Angela), and Andrew (Doris), and her granddaughter Rose.

elevated BbQ89 Louisa Suk-Hing Lai was born on November 3, 1951 in Hong Kong to the late Lai Siu Yang and Lee Yau Tim. She was the fourth of eight children.

elevated BbQ89 A bright student with a naturally adventurous spirit, she left home at the age of 18 to study at the University of Kansas. Her sincere desire to help others led her to major in psychology. She continued her studies at the University of Western Ontario where she received a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology in 1977. She then returned to Hong Kong where she enjoyed a successful career as a clinical psychologist with Hong Kong Christian Services. One of her fondest accomplishments is piloting and establishing an early childhood development program that is still used throughout Hong Kong today.

elevated BbQ89 In 1982, she returned to Canada and married Peter Siu. They eventually settled in Brampton, Ontario with their children. After a brief stint as a co-owner of a Second Cup franchise in downtown Toronto, Louisa returned to her professional vocation as a clinical psychotherapist.

elevated BbQ89 As a woman of faith, Louisa began to recognize that many of the emotional problems ailing her patients had deep spiritual roots. She also felt there were inherent conflicts between the economic model vs. the ethical duties of her profession. Therapists typically charge by the hour and therefore have a monetary incentive to drag out treatment. For the patient, putting a dollar value on the treatment often has the subconscious effect of perverting its value, thereby leading to poor outcomes for the patient.

elevated BbQ89 In 2009, Louisa made the decision to retire from private practice and switch to pro bono work. The switch was liberating – most especially as it freed her to incorporate her Catholic faith into her counseling. With little thought for her own needs, she would often spend hours in coffee shops or on the phone with her patients, listening with child-like patience while never afraid to offer tough love where needed. The Truth will set you free (John 8:32), she always maintained – and Truth meant bringing the love of Jesus Christ to all she encountered.

elevated BbQ89 The profound impact Louisa had on her patients’ lives was largely hidden from outside view, due to therapist-patient confidentiality. The day after her passing, her family discovered an article penned in 2020 on this very topic titled “A Hero Among Us”: https://thescribbler.ca/2020/04/20/a-hero-among-us/. In many ways, this article serves as a more fitting obituary than the present piece you are reading.

elevated BbQ89 Louisa was rarely outdone in generosity. She sincerely cared for the well-being of her family, friends, and all around her. There was no one left untouched by her big heart and her child-like spirit. She loved deeply, she loved well, and she will be greatly missed.

elevated BbQ89 Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Requiescat in pace, Louisa.
Amen.

elevated BbQ89 In lieu of flowers, please consider offering a Mass for the repose of the soul of Louisa Siu.

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