Lisung Chen's Obituary
Lisung Chen was born on 8/4/1912 in Chenghai, Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, China. He spent most of his childhood in Bangkok, & was later educated at Pui Ying Secondary School (培英中學) in Canton, Kwangtung. He entered Yenching University (燕京大學) in Peking in 1931 to study sociology, minoring in Chinese literature & history. Upon graduation in 1935, he pursued graduate studies at Xue Hai College (學海書院) in Canton. As World War II expanded to the Pacific in 1940s, he worked for the Chinese government in Hunan & Chungking, the wartime interim capital. Shortly after the war, he was assigned to the U.S. for a welfare research project for the Chinese government & the UN, & concurrently attended graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis. After resuming his post in Nanking in 1947, he also took up an appointment as an assistant professor in Southeast Asian Peninsula History at the National Eastern Language Institute (國立東方語文學院). His earlier publications included a complete Chinese translation with his commentaries of the book “The History of Siam” by English author W.A.R. Wood. That project combined chapters he previously translated & published in Bangkok’s Chinese Daily News (中原報) supplementary magazines while working as their correspondent in Bangkok, Nanking & the U.S. From 1948 to 2005, he lived in Hong Kong where he served as the Dept. Head of Chinese Literature & History at St. Paul’s College for 27 yrs., & published several reference books for the city’s School Certification Exams. Upon retirement, he taught at Tang Shiu Kin Secondary School till 1979, & then lectured at Shue Yan College (樹仁學院) till 1991. His extracurricular interests included Chinese calligraphy, gardening, reading, book- & poem-writing. While in Hong Kong, he was an active member of Pui Ying & Yenching alumni associations, St. Mary’s Church, Chiu-Chow & Swatow Cultural & Educational Assoc. (僑港潮汕文教聯誼會) & poetry societies. He frequently contributed writings & calligraphy works for publications. He had served as the secretary & chairperson of the Yenching University Alumni Assoc. in Hong Kong, & continued to be a consultant to the university’s mainland alumni assoc. after 90 yrs. old. He immigrated to the U.S. in 2005 & had since resided with his daughter’s family in Plano, Texas. Mr. Chen’s family will receive friends from 11 am – 1:00 pm in rooms E-F at Restland Funeral Home located at 13005 Greenville Ave., Dallas, TX 75243. During this time there will be a display of some of Mr. Chen’s work that everyone will enjoy. All are invited. A memorial service in honor of Mr. Chen will follow at 1:00 pm in the Memorial Chapel across the hall from rooms E-F. There will be no graveside service following the memorial service. Inurnment in Restland Memorial Park will take place at a later time. Funeral arrangements are under the care of Restland Funeral Home.
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