Cheryl Chow

Cheryl Chow (May 24, 1946 – March 29, 2013) was an American educator and politician. She was a Seattle City Council member from 1990 to 1997.

Early life Chow was born in Seattle, Washington, on May 24, 1946. Chow's father was Edward Shui "Ping" Chow, a Cantonese opera singer who received U.S. Citizenship after he was discharged from the United States Army, and her mother was Ruby Chow, who served as a King County Councilwoman, the first Asian American elected to that council. Her parents also owned Ruby Chow's restaurant, where Bruce Lee once worked. Chow's maternal grandparents were Chinese immigrants who had come to the United States to work on the railroad lines.

Career After college, Chow worked as a physical education teacher at Hamilton International Middle School, a public school in the Seattle School District. Chow coached the drill team for almost 50 years. She coached basketball for the Seattle Chinese Athletic Association for around 30 years.

In 1975, Chow became Principal at Sharples Junior High School (now Aki Kurose Middle School Academy). Chow became assistant principal of Garfield High School in 1981, and in 1982 she served as principal of Madison Junior High. Before running for Seattle City Council, she worked at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the November general election Chow narrowly defeated Williams, 50% to 49%. She ran for reelection in 1993, winning in a landslide with 74% of the vote. During her time on council, she helped form the Families and Education Levy, which funded after school programs, and helped build five community centers in the city. Chow stated her greatest achievements was getting the late night recreation centers and pulling together Asian gang leaders.

In 1999, Chow ran for Seattle City Council in Position 1 after council member Sue Donaldson decided not to run for office. In the August primary, Chow came in second and advanced to the general election with political newcomer, Judy Nicastro coming in first. Chow outraised Nicastro by over $12,000 due to her support from landlords and business leaders. Chow and her supporters labeled Nicastro as a "radical leftist," and Nicastro and her supporters labeled Chow "mediocre."

Chow would narrowly lose the November General Election to Nicastro, 49.51% to 50.49%.

Post-council After leaving the city council, Chow became an interim Principal at her alma mater, Franklin High School, and then at Garfield High School. She also worked for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington as their Director of Outreach.

Honors Chow was inducted into Franklin High School's hall of fame in 1992. She had graduated from the school and served there as principal. In 2012, the City of Seattle declared September 17 "Cheryl Chow Day", and in 2013, the Seattle Organization of Chinese Americans gave her the Golden Circle Award. On March 16, 2013, less than two weeks before her death, Chow married her partner of ten years, Sarah Morningstar. Together, they have a daughter, Liliana Morningstar-Chow. Chow and Morningstar began running marathons as a hobby because the training allowed them to be together in public.

Cheryl Chow died on March 29, 2013 of central nervous system lymphoma at age 66, in Seattle.