Albert died in 2001 at the age of 100, having outlived two wives and two daughters.
USC Obituary
"Albert Toy Quon ’28, of Los Angeles; July 26, at the age of 100. He was the founder of Quon-Quon, a national export-import company specializing in fine Chinese art objects and giftwares.
"Born in Canton, China, he moved to the Unites States with his father while a teenager and completed his high school studies in San Diego, Calif.
"While at USC, Quon majored in business administration with a minor in law. He was an outstanding student; he also served as president of the Cosmopolitan Club and the Sigma Pi Alpha business fraternity and was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor fraternity, and Phi Kappa Phi, the national honor society.
"He met his first wife, Lily (Ho) Quon '28, at USC, and they married shortly after graduation. Quon established his company in Peking in 1929, then moved his headquarters to Los Angeles in 1937. His achievements in business and real estate development brought recognition from the Los Angeles community: He was the first Asian to be admitted to the Los Angeles Rotary Club (#5) and the first Asian to serve on the Board of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. He retired in 1976.
"A devoted alumnus of USC, Quon established endowed scholarships for international students from the Pacific Rim in 1953, and he received the USC Alumni Award for Business Excellence in 1975. In 1985, the Albert T. Quon University and Community Service Awards were established at the USC Marshall School of Business; they honor selected students for their academic achievements as well as their outstanding university and community contributions. A bronze bust in AlbertQuon’s likeness is displayed in Bridge Hall on the University Park Campus.
"Quon was preceded in death by his second wife, Lily Chou, who died in 1999."
Note: Though Canton appears on some documents as his birthplace, he was born in Long Har Village in Hoiping, part of Sei Yup/Four Counties region near Canton.
Albert Quon in a presumably self-commissioned portrait by William Mortensen, a photographer of Hollywood stars, then based in Laguna Beach
"Historymaker" Award
In 1999, Albert was one of four people recognized by the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles. He received the first Dr. Dan Louie, Jr., lifetime achievement award, accepted on his behalf by grandson Deron Quon. This was the citation.
"In 1931, Albert Quon established Quon-Quon, Inc., an import-export company that provided baskets, ceramics, and gift items to national chain and department stores. At a time when Asians were discriminated against in the work place, Quon-Quon, Inc. extended store credit to Chinatown merchants and hired many local Chinese Americans.
"As a pioneer importer in Los Angeles, Albert Quon is a member of the USC Business Hall of Fame. He was also the first Asian American member of the LA Rotary Number 5 and of the Board of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. He established the Albert T. Quon Scholarship at USC, which grants financial aid to over a dozen Asian students annually."
Quon-Quon
Read about the Quon Mane store in San Diego, where Albert got his start: 90 Years in Business
Find out how uncovering Uncle Quon Mane's life sheds light on Albert's: Unexpected Patriarch
Albert's own business appears to have only got fully underway in 1937, when he moved his family of six to Los Angeles. However, it's noted that he personally dated the start of his business to 1929, the year he traveled in China, married Lily Ho, and met J.C. Liu, who would be a lifelong business partner. It's said that during that trip he purchased items that he sold to a department store in Seattle, which was one of the stops on his return trip.
Quon-Quon manufactured and distributed a wide range of mass-market ceramic and other gift-wares. The items were not necessarily Chinese in theme or look. Later Albert would have a company called Little Jones selling porcelains, cloissoné, lamps and other Chinese decorative items to a higher-end market. Albert liked to say that he chose the name "Quon-Quon" because if you say it twice, it sticks better. However, some say that the name reflected that the business was originally meant to be a partnership with his older brother Frank.
In 1946, after the end of World War II, Albert started a Hong Kong-based business, called Nan Kang 南康, meaning "Southern Health"). "Kang" is in fact the Mandarin pronunciation for the shared generational character which appears in Albert's Chinese name Hong Toy 康才.
Once again, it appears there was an initial effort to partner with Frank (Hong Kuey), who moved back to China at that time, but somehow the relationship soured. Relatives of Frank say that in addition to Nan Kang, there was or was meant to be a Macau affiliate called Ao Kang. In any case, they would have faced a difficult business environment as civil war between the KMT and Communists consumed the country.
Nan Kang still exists today under different ownership.