K Dock Yip

Early years

Yip was born in Vancouver in 1906, the 17th of 19 sons, and one of 23 children born to prominent Canadian businessman Yip Wang Sang's four wives.

In 1931, Yip graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Michigan.

After completing his pharmacological studies, Yip returned to Vancouver where he became Secretary for the Chinese Consulate; it was during this period that Yip decided to pursue a career in law.

Yip, along with some of his brothers, were members of the Chinese Students Soccer Team in 1933, when they became the B.C. Mainland Cup Soccer Champions. The team is believed to be the only soccer team composed of Chinese players outside of China in that era, a time when Chinese people in B.C. faced heavy racism. In 2011, they were inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1941 Yip earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia.

Move to Toronto

Driven by the fact that British Columbia did not allow Orientals to practice law in those days, once he had completed his studies at UBC, Yip moved to Toronto with his future wife Victoria Chow (m. 1942).

After three attempts to gain admittance, he was accepted to Osgoode Hall Law School from which he graduated in 1945 with his Bachelor of Laws, later that year becoming the first lawyer of Asian descent called to the bar in Canada. Yip, working closely with civil liberties and human rights lawyer and law school friend Irving Himel and other activists from across the country, was an important player in convincing the Government of Canada to, in 1947, repeal the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, thereby allowing immigration of Chinese people into Canada. He remained focused on this issue, through 1958 to 1966 fighting to have Canada's immigration policies reformed to reduce the barriers Chinese immigrants faced trying to enter Canada. Following his move to Toronto, Yip became an important community leader in Toronto's Chinatown.

In 1942 Yip became a reservist with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada.

After achieving victory in his legal fight for Chinese-Canadian rights, Yip returned to his legal career serving Toronto's Chinese community. He maintained a private legal practice in Chinatown where he flourished, in part due to his speaking three Chinese dialects, in part because, for a time, he was the only Chinese-speaking attorney in Toronto, and in part because he was a man who "gave personal care and attention to his clients". Yip was highly respected by other lawyers, recognized as "a person of integrity and the best role model that a younger lawyer could ever have"; he was also fondly remembered as a man with an encyclopedic knowledge, as comfortable discussing classical literature as he was debating intricacies of law; while in his 70s he studied Shakespearean English by correspondence. In addition to his 47 years aiding Chinese residents with their legal woes, four decades of that spent working out of store-front offices in Chinatown, Yip found time to serve two terms as a Toronto Board of Education trustee for Ward 6 in the 1970s.

In 1985, he played the role of tong leader, Milton Bin, in the movie Year of the Dragon starring Mickey Rourke. Then in 1991 he appeared in a Cyndi Lauper rock video. Yip continued to practice law until retiring in 1992.

In 1994, at the age of 87, Yip received special recognition from Ryerson University as the oldest student in their continuing education program. In 1998 he was awarded the Law Society Medal by the Law Society of Upper Canada for outstanding service to the legal profession.

Personal

In 1942 Yip married Victoria Chow, his childhood sweetheart. They had three children, Alfred, Duncan James, and Malcolm John, along with five grandchildren. Yip was survived by second wife Evelyn on his passing.

Yip's sister, Susanne Yip Gimling, was Principal of the Kwangtung Provincial Girls’ Middle School in Guangzhou, China during the 1930s.

Awards