and his children learned to eat with chopsticks and
speak Cantonese from their grandmother. “My mom
always spoke Cantonese to them,” said Sandy. It was
the language spoken by most older people in China,
she explained. “I remember when Pei Pei was very
young, and she would ask my mom for something
in English. My mom would say, ‘I don’t know. Say
in Chinese,’ even though she understood,” laughed
Sandy.
Even though the circumstances that brought Sze
and Sandy to America were different, both had strong
work ethics. Their work in the community spoke
about who they were and the values they held. All
three of Sze and Sandy’s children carried these values
forward with excellence.
Pei Pei graduated from Robert Toombs Christian
Academy (RTCA) in 1999, and from Trinity College
in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2003 with a degree in
Economics and a minor in Architectural Studies.
She currently serves as Senior Vice-President at
Bozzuto Property Management Company in Chicago,
which has the distinction of being a “Top Property
Management Company in the Nation.” An online
Chicago business journal recently reported, “In her
current role, Pei Pei oversees a portfolio of over 2,700
residential units in Bozzuto’s downtown Chicago
portfolio.” She and her husband Christian have two
children: a daughter Audrey and son Gianluca.
Ting Ting graduated from Vidalia Comprehensive
High School (VCHS) in 2004. “She was on the
Homecoming Court her sophomore through
senior years in high school. She was crowned the
Homecoming Queen her senior year,” said Sandy as
only a proud mother would say. After high school,
Ting Ting went to the University of Georgia (UGA)
and spent her junior year in UGA’s studies abroad
program in Beijing. “So, her Mandarin is better than
the other two,” said Sandy and smiled.
In 2007, while Ting Ting was studying abroad,
Sandy and Pei Pei traveled to Beijing for a visit. All
three visited the places Sandy and Sze’s families were
from. Afterward, they traveled together to Hong
Kong to visit the home Sandy had had to leave so
suddenly in 1975. The family of the man who worked
for them was still living in the home they had left
behind. “The man who worked for us did everything
for me. He was the housekeeper and cook. He sewed
my clothes and drove me to school. When I came
to America, my mom had to teach me to cook rice
BELOW Pei Pei and her husband Christian live in the
Chicago area with their two children. RIGHT Mathew
is in his second year of residency at Einstein Medical
Center in Philadelphia. BOTTOM Ting Ting and her
husband Anthony live in Seattle, Washington.
38 TOOMBS COUNTY MAGAZINE