Viola Zane Fountain's Obituary
Viola Zane Fountain, 19 July 1927—25 February 2022
Viola Zane Fountain—whom everyone knew as “Vi” or “Popo” (grandmother) —was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, of Hakka Chinese heritage. Her Chinese name was “Kee Fung,” born to Ah Moi Zane, her father, and Annie Ngoo Zane, her mother. She had one sister, Muriel Zane (“Kee Lan”), and one brother, Robert Zane (“Yee Cheung”), both now deceased.
She lived for years in a “nuclear family household” with 21 other folks ranging in age from small children to grandparents. She married Eli Keluluoholani Fountain—who was 75% pureblood Hawaiian, about as Hawaiian as anyone in the 20th century—in 1952. In 1954 they moved to the mainland and settled briefly in Alameda, Oakland, and Hayward, before landing permanently, as it turned out, in Fremont.
After moving to California, Vi held only one job for 36 years and retired in 1990. At Wilco Supply, a hardware distributor, she began as a clerk and rose to become the Chief Financial Officer, an extraordinary achievement for any woman at that time.
Vi and Eli were ardent travelers, and went on more than 40 cruises together. After Eli died in 1997, Vi went on 20 more cruises, and also traveled with her family to Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Cabo San Lucas, Spain, and Vancouver. Vi was always trying to expand and deepen her appreciation of life’s endless energy and variety.
Vi remained in robust good health until the last year of her life and only weakened during her final weeks. She died peacefully in the home where she’d lived for more than 40 years. Vi believed deeply in this credo: "But a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated." She remained undefeated to the end.
After retiring, Vi gave freely of her time to the Salvation Army and the Fremont Senior Center. Her energetic kindness had a fiery, loving quality, a creative force. In Solomon’s Song of Songs, the fiery quality of love is said to be a “flame of [God].” Usually explained as a “[God] flame” of high burning intensity, one intriguing potential explanation is that the fire of love is a fire of God, a participation in the Lord’s white-hot flame.
The family hopes that, in Vi’s memory, we will all feel love as a flame of the Lord, take in more of the world’s diversity, and extend the measure of our goodness.
She is survived by her daughter Cindy Fountain Monroe and her husband John Monroe and by her granddaughter Camille Elizabeth Melelei Monroe Dominguez and her husband Omar Dominguez.
GoFundMe Donation Link:
https://gofund.me/eb7d317d
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