A Personal History
Shirley Gee came to Oakland with her family in the early 50's and grew up here. Having to move around alot, she attended both Cleveland and Lincoln Elementary Schools, Westlake and McChesney Jr. High Schools and then graduated from Oakland High School (Class Ranking - 5th out of 750+ students). Lacking the financial resources to go to college, she left school on a Friday and went to work the following Monday. She took a full time job with the Atomic Energy Commission and bit by bit, over a ten year period, worked and paid her way through college. She ultimately graduated with honors from St. Mary's Colleges with a Bachelors in Business Management.
She is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Suey Wing Gee, who were immigrants from mainland China. Her father is a United States veteran of World World II and her mother immigrated to the United States post-World War II with her husband. Ms. Gee has 2 sisters and one brother, all of whom have been her strongest supporters in her community service in Oakland and all live or work in Oakland. Her extended family of aunt's and uncles, and cousins are all in the City of Oakland as well so clearly her roots in Oakland run wide and deep.
Ms. Gee grew up all over the District 2 neighborhood. First in the Parkway Theater area, then in Chinatown area (8th and Alice), followed by East Oakland in the Avenues and then to the Haddon Road/Athol area and ultimately on Prospect and Spruce, where she has lived for the last 20+ years. She has had a chance to experience each and every neighborhood in District 2 up close and personal. She has seen their changes and appreciate the cultural significance and character of each neighborhood and the people in it.
Ms. Gee notes that some of the neighbor changes have been modest while others have been extreme. District 2 is more fortunate than some of the other districts in that there is more renovation and recovery and there is a strong sense of community and desire for improvement. Chinatown is the "little engine that could" and local merchant areas are either holding their own or are thriving.
Taking a page out of history, Ms. Gee believes strongly that some of the lessons learned in District 2 can be transplanted in other parts of Oakland and that a leader capable of multi-level thinking with a vision for the future and who is truly committed to the District and its citizens can further enhance the quality of life for citizens. Because Ms. Gee has been here essentially all of her life, she has a tangible basis for comparison and can attack the District's problems and issues from a native Oaklander's point of view as opposed to an outsider or transplant's view of us.
An artist by hobby, she is also active in the art and craft community and has served as a past Board of Director with Oakland Asian Cultural Center and was a member of the Artship Foundation's Strategic Alliance Committee . She works closely with the art community and provides them a forum to display their art form in her non-profit project.
When she is not managing her career at Stanford University/SLAC and doing volunteer, charity work for her community, she is the mother of two sons, ages 18 and 20 years old. Among all of her commitments and obligations, she considers single parenting one of her most rewarding and challenging. Her sons, Ryan and Sean have been doing public service work right along with her since they were 8 and 10 and have made the ultimate sacrifice by sharing their mother with the local community. "It was important that my children learn by example and to become involved and contribute where ever and whenever they could as part of their civic responsibility to others", Ms. Gee says. "Being part of a community is a way of insuring one's safety and well being. A lot can happen in a life time and in a town", Ms. Gee adds. "it's good to know that the Oakland community is part of your extended family and will be there for you when you need it." Ryan, a witty freshman at San Francisco State is a chess player, writer and computer wizard. Sean is an accomplished athlete and sophomore at UC/Santa Cruz. Both are and have been her inspiration for all the work she has done for youth.
In recognition of her sustained commitment to excellence, integrity and public service to the City of Oakland , Ms. Gee was selected to be the recipient of the 2002 "Oakland Citizen of the Year" award by the New Oakland Committee, which is made up of labor, business and the community service organizers and leaders from the multi-ethnic communities throughout the City. This is a prestigious annual award given to one Oakland citizen out of 400,000 citizens every year in recognition of exemplary long-term volunteer and public service resulting in the betterment of the City and community at large.