Public memorial and funeral for Stanley Ho to be held in early July

The funeral of Stanley Ho Hung-sun, patriarch of Asia’s largest casino empire and the “King of Gambling” for more than half a century, will be held early next month.

There would be a public memorial on July 9 for the man, whose very name is synonymous with Macau’s rise to overtake Las Vegas as the world’s gambling capital. The service would be held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point, a family spokesman said on Wednesday.

His funeral will take place the next day, before Ho is buried in Chiu Yuen Cemetery on Mount Davis, near the westernmost edge of Hong Kong Island.

An heir of one the four families that controlled much of old Hong Kong’s wealth and colonial-era business, Ho was born in the city on November 25, 1921.