Chung Wu

Chung Wu, age 100, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 11, 2020, in Prescott, Arizona. He was born on December 13, 1919, in Fuzhou, China, the sixth of eight children born to Zhe-An Wu and Shi-Ge Chen. 

Chung studied Chinese classics and calligraphy and planned to study medicine. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1947 as a graduate student and earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Michigan. There, he met his future wife, Helen Lun Chen, who also received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Michigan. Coincidentally, they were classmates in high school in Fuzhou. 

Chung's focus was in cancer research at the University of Michigan and hew as an Associate Professor of Biochemistry with a joint appointment to the University of Michigan Medical School. He retired in the mid 1980's. In 1987, they moved to Santa Rose, California, and, in 1999, to La Jolla, California. Later, they moved to live with Lucy and Jean. 

Chung was preceded in death by Helen, in 2008. Chung is survived by their four children: Margaret Wu, Jean Wu, Lucy Wu, and Stephen and Nancy Wu; and two grandchildren, Kevin and Katie. 

Chung was a master calligrapher, an avid gardener, author, and expert Mah-Jong player. He loved playing Mah-Jong with a group of friends in Ann Arbor. In 1973, he authored his book, "An Advanced System for Playing Mah Jong", a revised system of playing Mah-Jong that he devised over the course of jears of play with these friends. 

His gentle nature was a gift to all of us and to the world. He is indescribably missed. 

He will be buried next to Helen in San Diego, California.