Soo, Charlie
Chicago Tribune, Thursday, April 12, 2001
The body of North Side activist Charlie Soo, who spearheaded the growth on Argyle Street of what is now Chicago's New Chinatown, will pass through his neighborhood once more Thursday, April 12, 2001.
His funeral procession will leave the Barr Funeral Home, 6222 N. Broadway, at 9:30 a.m. and weave through the Argyle Street neighborhood until reaching the May Chapel at Rosehill Cemetery, 5800 N. Ravenswood Avenue.
A service will be held in the chapel at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 12, 2001. A community lunch will follow in the Sun Wah Restaurant, 1134 W. Argyle Street.
Charlie Soo, 56, was found in his Loyola Avenue apartment Monday, April 2, 2001 dead of natural causes.
As the founder of the Asian American Small Business Association, the loquacious Chinese American tirelessly pursued his vision of a North Side Chinatown for more than 20 years.
Chiefly, he organized the multitude of immigrants who moved their shops to the area, eager to do business but reluctant to band together. After coming to Chicago in the 1970s, he also talked the Chicago Transit Authority into a $250,000 face-lift for the Argyle Station in 1979, then fostered Taste of Argyle, a food festival held annually since 1981.