Griesbaum Meat Company: tripe processing company
-President, 1980-1995

Chinese Trading Company and Chinese Noodle Company were founded by Tom Y. Chan. The other companies were acquired by the Tom family later.

After his older brother, Chung, died of a heart attack in 1980, Mr. Tom became president of all of the above companies. His sisters, Helene, Eunice, and Mary also worked for the family business, as did his nephews, Jan Wong (Eunice's son) and Chip Tom (Chung's son).

Civic Activities
Trustee, WTTW-TV Channel 11
Trustee, Adler Planetarium
Trustee, Lincoln Academy of Illinois
Trustee, Jane Addams' Hull House
Director, Madison Bank
Member, Chicago Board of Roosevelt University
Member, Board of Advisors, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center
Member, Illinois Development Finance Authority
Member, South Side Planning Board
Member, Economic Club of Chicago
Member, design committee for Harold Washington Library
Member, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
Member, U.S. Federal Judicial Nominations Committee
Director, Asian American Institute
Founding president (1983), Chinatown Chamber of Commerce
Chairman, Chinatown Parking Corporation
Past president and director, Chinese American Civic Council
Member, Advisory Board of the Chinese American Service League

Mr. Tom was a leader not only in the Chinese community, but in the broader Asian American community as well. His beaming smile and calm demeanor endeared him to people of all backgrounds. Friends say that he had a natural ability resolve differences among people. He was one of the thirteen original founders of the Asian American Coalition of Chicago, an organization that annually brings together diverse Asian communities, including Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Cambodian, among others.
 
Furthermore, some say that because he was a second generation native English speaker, he had an easier time working with mainstream (non-Asian) organizations and even politicians. Mr. Tom was an advisor to U.S. Senators (Paul Simon, Carol Moseley-Braun), Illinois governors (James R. Thompson, Jim Edgar), and Chicago mayors (the late Harold Washington and Richard M. Daley).
Outside of family and the family businesses, Mr. Tom's greatest achievement was his work on Chinatown Square, a $100 million plus residential and commercial expansion of Chinatown on 32 acres (130,000 m2) of land purchased from the Santa Fe Railroad. As president of the Chinese American Development Corporation, founded in 1984, he unfortunately did not have the chance to see the bustling development that it has become. It was his desire to expand Chinatown so that there would be more room for his fellow Chinese to live and work. He was recently recognized as one of Chicago magazine's top 40 Chicago pioneers for his efforts.

Death and afterward
Bust of Ping Tom
Following his sudden death in 1995 due to pancreatic cancer, Mr. Tom's wish that a park be built for Chinatown residents came true on October 2, 1999, when the Chicago Park District dedicated the 12-acre (49,000 m2) Ping Tom Memorial Park next to the Chinatown Square in his name. In 2005, a bust of Mr. Tom was installed in the park to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.

The Asian American Coalition of Chicago has since named its highest award, the Pan Asian American award, after him in his honor.

Notes
Tom, Ping, Parker's student newspaper, The Weekly, November 16, 1988.
Johnson, Geoffrey. "Top 40 Chicago Pioneers: Visionaries from 1970 to 2010." Chicago. Date: Dec. 2010.
 
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Irene Cualoping for compiling the list of civic activities. Chronological information about Tom Chan comes from notes prepared by his oldest daughter, Florence, who traveled with him across the United States while he was raising awareness and money for the causes he supported.