Ping Tom

Following his sudden death in 1995 due to pancreatic cancer, Mr. Tom's wish that a park be built for Chinatown residents came true on October 2, 1999, when the Chicago Park District dedicated the 12-acre (49,000 m) Ping Tom Memorial Park next to the Chinatown Square in his name. In 2005, a bust of Mr. Tom was installed in the park to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.

In an article Mr. Tom wrote for the Parker Weekly in 1988, he stated that his experience at Parker shaped and influenced his life in two ways. First, Parker's atmosphere of encouragement helped him build self-confidence. Second, Parker's diversity taught him to develop "mutual respect and caring for those of a different race, ethnicity and religion." In fact, he noted that he had not known a Jew until he attended Parker.

Outside of family and the family businesses, Mr. Tom's greatest achievement was his work on Chinatown Square, a $100 million plus residential and commercial expansion of Chinatown on 32 acres (130,000 m) of land purchased from the Santa Fe Railroad. As president of the Chinese American Development Corporation, founded in 1984, he unfortunately did not have the chance to see the bustling development that it has become. It was his desire to expand Chinatown so that there would be more room for his fellow Chinese to live and work. He was recently recognized as one of Chicago magazine's top 40 Chicago pioneers for his efforts.

After his older brother, Chung, died of a heart attack in 1980, Mr. Tom became president of all of the above companies. His sisters, Helene, Eunice, and Mary also worked for the family business, as did his nephews, Jan Wong (Eunice's son) and Chip Tom (Chung's son).

Mr. Tom then attended Northwestern University where he entered a special six-year dual degree program to obtain a bachelor's degree concurrently with a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law, receiving his B.A. in Economics in 1956 and his J.D. in 1958.

Mr. Tom attended Haines School in Chinatown. He then won a high-school scholarship to Francis W. Parker School in Chicago. Mr. Tom won the Parker scholarship over his best friend, Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., who went on to become the first African-American astronaut. Mr. Tom graduated from Parker in 1952. Both of his sons, Darryl (Class of 1988) and Curtis (Class of 1990), as well as Trace Lawrence (Class of 1977), Mr. Lawrence's son, also attended Francis W. Parker School.

Ping Tom (April 15, 1935 – July 7, 1995) (Chinese: 譚繼平; pinyin: Tān Jìpíng) was an American businessperson and civic leader in Chicago. Ping Tom Memorial Park is dedicated to him.

Ping Tom married Valerie Ching (born September 15, 1934) of Honolulu, Hawaii on October 11, 1958. They met in Chicago while Mr. Tom was attending law school at Northwestern University and Valerie attended the Gregg Court Reporting School, which was then associated with Northwestern. They had two children: Darryl Tom (born March 13, 1970) and Curtis Tom (born August 13, 1972). Tom was the uncle of American actress Lauren Tom.