Actor, Activist, Minister, Writer – Jack Ong
Jack
Bill met Jack Ong in January of 1998, and the two quickly became fast friends. Over the years the two grew closer, with Jack eventually becoming an adopted big brother to Bill. Jack was a fascinating man who was an actor, writer and much more. The two worked on multiple creative projects, which required Bill to learn many new skills, including video editing/production and web design.
Jack was a very close friend of the late Oscar winning actor, Dr. Haing S. Ngor. In honor of the friendship between Jack and Dr. Ngor, Jack served as the Executive Director of the late actor’s foundation for many years. This connection resulted in Bill working with the foundation in several capacities, including web designer/web master, copy writer, videographer, and eventually a member of the board of directors.
Jack has been a huge influence on Bill’s life…demonstrating to him, that that no matter your situation, or where you came from…with perseverance, the right attitude, faith, and a belief in your own abilities, all things are possible.
Tales of a Dragon Son
In April of 2016, Jack suffered a stroke, which ultimately required brain surgery to treat. This procedure revealed that Jack had brain cancer. This sad turn of events changed the lives of everyone who knew Jack. Over the next year, Jack’s health began to decline, and Bill stepped into the role of primary caregiver for his adopted big brother. When he could no longer live in his own home (with in-home care), Bill and Denise moved Jack into theirs. For the next few months, Bill and Denise cared for Jack, keeping him safe, and improved his quality of life. Late in 2016, Bill and Denise took Jack on what would be his last trip to visit his beloved little sister (Glenna) in Denver. The family arranged this one-way trip to relocate Jack from SoCal to Denver, so that he could be closer to Glenna and her husband, Jim. Bill and his family flew home to LA, and over the next few months, unfortunately Jack’s health began to decline. It was at this time that Bill started to think about the family biography that Jack had worked on throughout his life. Jack’s family had immigrated to the United to the United States from a small village in China, many years before he was born, and that life journey was chronicled in a biography that Jack had worked on for 40 years. As it often does, life got in the way, and Jack, being so generous with his time to others, saw his manuscript sit unfinished for all those years. When it became clear that Jack was not going to recover from his health issues, Bill developed a burning desire to do one more thing for his adopted big brother. Bill picked up Jack’s unfinished manuscript and using the skills that he learned in writing his own book (“Elementary Art: 100 Years of Sherlock Holmes”), he feverishly worked against the clock to finish what Jack had started. In June, Bill completed this labor of love, and through Amazon was able to publish a proof copy of the 400+ page book. By the grace of God, Jack, with a smile on his face, was able to see and hold a published copy of “Tales of a Dragon Son”. On June 13 of 2017, Jack was called home.
