One of the first pharmacists of Chinese descent to graduate from the University of Toronto, George Thomas (Tom) Lock is among a group of Chinese Canadians who are being honoured by Canada Post with a commemorative Remembrance Day stamp.
Lock and the other honourees were recruited to Force 136, a secret branch of the British military, during the Second World War. Their mission: parachute behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia to gather intelligence and support local resistance groups.
After the fighting ended, Lock went on to study pharmacy at U of T, graduating in 1951. He opened his pharmacy in 1954 in a neighbourhood with a large Chinese community that was also home to other marginalized and diverse groups.
"I remember one of my first days working at the store, my dad told me that at Tom Lock Drugs we have one rule: We treat everybody the same, no matter what their station in life is," says Keith Lock, one of Lock's three children.
"In those days, the customers were a wide range of people from a range of social statuses. Hanging around the store was like watching the parade of life because there was always so much going on."
