Businessman, restaurateur who served Wichita’s high rollers in the ’70s, has died at 98
One of Wichita’s earliest restaurant pioneers — a World War II veteran who went on to build his own real estate business using knowledge he gleaned from his influential restaurant customers — has died at age 98.
Wayne Wong, onetime owner of Georgie Porgie Pancake Shop, died at home on Friday, leaving behind a restaurant and business legacy he started building when he arrived in the United States in 1935 at age 13.
Wong came to the country as a “paper son,” one of many people barred from entering the country legally under the Chinese Exclusion Act who made it into the United States using false papers identifying them as sons of Americans.
Wong detailed his life story in the 2006 book “American Paper Son: A Chinese Immigrant in the Midwest.” That book, published when Wong was 83, was one of his proudest accomplishments, his children said.
Wong’s father, Tung Jing Mar, was one of the founders of Pan-American Cafe, which was among Wichita’s first Chinese restaurants when it opened in 1917 at 150 N. Market. In the 1920s, China was in the midst of economic upheaval, and Tung Jing Mar left his village in southern China — as well as his wife and his 3-month-old son — for a job at his cousin’s Wichita restaurant.
When Wong arrived in the United States, he worked with his father in the kitchen of Pan-American Cafe, living in a small apartment above the restaurant. In 1971, he bought Georgie Porgie Pancake Shop in the corner of Normandie Center at Central and Woodlawn, from George Laham, who had opened it in 1966.
Wong’s clientele included several influential real estate magnates of the day, including George Ablah and Dean Bussart, who would dine at Georgie Porgie every morning and often scratch deals out on napkins.
Wong, who was shy when he and his wife, Kim Suey Wong, took over the business, befriended the businessmen and listened to their tips, though in a story about his restaurant’s popularity among the business community published in the Wichita Eagle in 1981, Wong said his secret to success was that he treated people fairly and didn’t listen to their conversations.
During that time, he started accumulating commercial real estate and bought properties all over town.
The Wongs sold Georgie Porgie’s in 1990, though it remained open until January 1998. After he sold the restaurant, Wong continued to manage his properties but became deeply passionate about his history with the U.S. Army.
In 1942, Wong enlisted and was assigned to the 987th Signal Operations Company in Camp Crowder, Missouri, which was organized to serve as a liaison between American and Chinese troops. It was the Army’s only Chinese-American unit, and Wong served as a supply sergeant.
He was honorably discharged on Dec. 21, 1945, and awarded the Bronze Star, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, the China War Memorial Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. In his later years, he frequently traveled the country for reunions with his company.
Over the past 10 years, though, he began to decline mentally, said his youngest son, Edward Wong, who followed his father into the restaurant business, owning Long John Silver’s franchises and opening Wichita’s Spaghetti Jack’s restaurants in the early 1990s. Edward said his father had Alzheimer’s disease in his final years.
In 2018, Wong lost his wife, Kim Suey Wong, who he’d returned to China to marry in 1947 after hiring a matchmaker. The couple, who were married for 71 years and worked side-by-side to build their family business, had four children. Daughters Linda and Wilma live in California, and sons David and Edward live in Wichita.
Wong is also survived by a brother who lives in Wichita, a sister who lives in Hong Kong, and several grandchildren.
Edward Wong said his father was a generous man, and he taught him what he knows about business. For years, he was considered a sage adviser in Wichita’s Chinese community, and people would come to him for advice on business, healthcare and more.
“He wanted to always be remembered,” Ed Wong said. “And he wanted to do things people would remember him for.”
A visitation is scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, and Wong’s funeral service and burial will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Old Mission Mortuary, 3424 E. 21st St.
This story was originally published June 21, 2021 at 2:01 PM.
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