Search by Name

Add a Memory

Send Flowers

Make a Donation

Share Obituary

Josephine Chuch Liu Yen

Josephine Yen Obituary

1923 - 2013
Artist Josephine Chuch Liu Yen (Zi), formerly of 502 Hunters Lane, Oreland, Pennsylvania, passed away on October 27, 2013, in Ithaca, New York. Mrs. Yen was born Jan. 10, 1923, in Shanghai, China, to Liu Pei Yue and Kuh Chong Sin. She came to the United States with her beloved husband, Andrew Yen, over 60 years ago. She was a kind and generous member of the Oreland community, beloved by all who knew her.

Josephine was born into a wonderful loving family with many sisters and brothers. She and her husband came to the United States in the 1940's, embraced this country and made it their home.

Josephine was the backbone of steel for her family, who she would love and care for all of her life. She was an artist, as well, making beautiful drawings, ceramics, paintings, and clothing. When her son got married, she made his wife custom fit fashionable clothing and when she had grandchildren, she made them clothes as well. Always fashionable, always things they were excited to wear.

In 2012, Josephine's husband, Andrew, passed away and she had to move to a new city that she wasn't familiar with. In spite of this, her first concern was for others, not herself. For example, she learned of a Burmese immigrant family in her community who wanted to teach their son piano but couldn't afford it. Josephine promptly arranged to donate her own piano to the family.

When she lost her husband, last year on May 29th, Josephine's heart broke. She dreamed of him every night. Every night, the same dream. She was in her old house in Pennsylvania and she would walk into the kitchen and there he would be and she would be amazed that he was alive. She would reach out and touch him and he would be warm. "But you are dead!" She would exclaim. "How can you be warm?" He would smile at her with a twinkle in his eye and assure her, "Oh yes, I am still warm." He has been waiting for her this past year, visiting her only in her dreams. Now, they are finally back together again.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by New York Times from Nov. 1 to Nov. 2, 2013.

Memories and Condolences
for Josephine Yen

Sponsored by Jennifer Betit Yen and Peyton Worley.

17 Entries

Richard Yan

October 28, 2023

I took the wheelchair picture of October 12, 2013. It is like yesterday. Auntie Josephine told me many stories of her younger days from 1920s to 1940s in the old Shanghai. All wonderful memories. We will love you and miss you always, Auntie Josephine.

Richard Yan

October 21, 2020

Josephine Yen was characterized by refined culture, manners and kindness. My family went to see her and she told my kids stories and cultureal things. We have a profoundly good memory of her. She will always be in our memory.

Richard Yan

November 10, 2013

I met Josephine Yen thirty years ago. She never stopped charming me with her personal youth stories from 1920's to 1940's and giving me advices even weeks ago. My whole family truly appreciates her for the loving and caring she gave to my family. All I can describe Josephine is she was so gentle, generous, kind and charming. My family and I will deeply miss Josephine. May her rest in heavenly peace.

Woody and Laurie Lauer

November 8, 2013

We were always encouraged by Andy and Josephine through their gentle, encouraging presence at Calvary Church. May the Lord continue to bless their children's children in Christ for generations to come.

Linda Foh

November 8, 2013

Dear Jennifer and family,

I knew your dear grandparents for many years at Calvary OPC in Glenside. They were particular friends of my parents. Andy sang in the choir with us most of that time and Josephine always had a smile for everyone. Thank you for posting the pictures and story of their early life. May our Lord comfort you in this great loss.

Rebecca Schnitzel

November 8, 2013

When Andy and Josephine could no longer attend worship services at our church (and theirs)we all missed them so much. On the occasions when I visited them, they were so gracious, interested in my family and in the broader church family. They had great love for Christ's church, and were always happy to know that the Word was faithfully going forth.

Aaron Woolfolk

November 6, 2013

My deepest condolences. I know from her granddaughter Jennifer Betit Yen how much of a special lady and a rock for her family she was. Seeing the kind of person her granddaughter Jen is, Josephine Chuch Liu Yen has left a great legacy.

Chen Tang

November 6, 2013

Jennifer,
Your grandmother sounds like an incredibly loving and compassionate woman. I wish I had the privilege of knowing her, but I can see that the love and kindness she had lives on in you. I am so honored and grateful to have you as a friend in my life. Thank you. I'm keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.

Give love to each other--and to yourself. For love is the only thing that is real, and connects us all.

All my best,
Chen

Susan Moore

November 5, 2013

You will be missed, Josephine. Your sweet and gentle smile were a light to me.

Belinda Worley

November 5, 2013

I never had a chance to meet Mrs Yen but I could always tell she was a special person by stories Jen and Peyton shared. She welcomed my son into her family with love and I will always remember that and the love she gave to Jen.

Frank and Beryl Mullen

November 3, 2013

Andy and Josephine were our dear friends for over three decades and we enjoyed worshiping with them at church here in PA each Lord's day. We shared meals in one another's homes and delighted in their company. They were wonderful friends to our family and we cherish many wonderful memories as we look forward to seeing then again in Heaven for all eternity with our Lord.

Josephine Yen, October 12, 2013

Richard Yan

November 1, 2013

Mike and Liz Turner

November 1, 2013

Although we only met Josephine a few times, we feel we know her well from this beautiful remembrance. Rest in peace, Josephine.
—Mike and Liz Turner

Melissa

November 1, 2013

Josephine not only donated her piano to a Burmese family - but also hundreds of yards of fabric and sewing supplies to refugee women and artists! Her spirit and kindness lives on in the refugee families to whom she was so generous.

Jennifer Yen

November 1, 2013

How do you describe such an incredible woman or pay homage to a lifespan of nearly one hundred years in just a few moments? It doesn't seem possible. It's not possible. Josephine Yen was a woman with a gentle smile and long fingered artistic hands that could paint and draw and sew and create the most beautiful things imaginable. She also had a backbone of steel and the courage of a lion; having had to live through challenges I can only imagine in nightmares. Once, when I asked her to describe her, she joked that it was, in some ways, the “opposite of a Cinderella fairy tale.”

She was born into a wonderful loving family with many sisters and great wealth and privilege in Shanghai, China. When she met and married my grandfather, Andrew, they moved into beautiful apartments that were part of his father's estate and lived with a large and happy family. Josephine and her husband, both extremely intelligent, passed exams to get them access to travel into the United States, both scoring in the very top brackets. In fact, they scored so highly, they were both written up in local newspapers for their scores. They came to the US to travel and go to school, to learn and have fun, but, ultimately, to return home to the embrace of their families.

Then, the Communist Revolution happened.

Their families lost everything. Terrible things happened in China. Their families told them not to come home. They went from having everything to having nothing. Suddenly, they were stuck in a tiny uncomfortable one room apartment with no money and no family other than eachother. They faced racism in the workplace – this was the 1940's! – and elsewehere. Josephine didn't hide though. She didn't give up. She gathered her wits about her and she kept going to school. She had a baby and made a home for him in that tiny one room apartment. She held her head high and she faced her new life with courage, dignity and pride. She told me a story of when her son was two and her husband, having faced racism at his job and missing his family, especially his brothers, with all his heart, considered going back to China, in spite of the danger there. He went so far as to pack a suitcase. Josephine watched him pack and then she stood up and laid down the law. “No,” she said. “I will not go back. There is nothing for us there now. I will raise my son to be an American. We will stay here and we will make our own life.” She prevailed and stay they did.

Josephine was always strong; always a caregiver. When her son was small and entered a US school with English being his second language, he felt inadequate in his classes. He was terrified of going to school and not knowing his lessons. So, Josephine sat him down and, every single night, went over his lessons with him, making sure he knew and understood everything so that he would feel confident and secure when he returned to his classroom. When he came home one day in tears because some of the white students had picked on him because of his race, she took note that the Jewish boy who lived nearby was also picked on – him because of his religion – and she spoke with the Jewish boy's mother. The two wise mothers introduced their sons, knowing they could bond over their common dilemma and that there was strength in numbers – two is better than one. The boys became great friends.

When I was in elementary school, I had a little autograph book, which I asked her to write in. She wrote, “Good, Better, Best. Never never rest until good is better and better best.” Josephine always urged everyone to fulfill their potential; to be the best person they could be. She didn't want you to be better than everyone else; she just wanted you to be the best you could be. That became very clear to me one day when I was a young teenager and my friend had drawn an amazing architectural rendering of a fantastical workshop of Santa's elves. I tried to render a similar drawing. Where her drawing was perfect and measured and looked like something you might purchase in a store, mine was imperfect and unaligned; the proportions were wrong, the colors looked scrawled. Where her drawing looked professional, mine looked like a preschooler did it. Saddened, I showed my grandmother both drawings and said, “I am not as good as she is.” Josephine studied both drawings and told me, “You are as good, if not better. Her drawing is very precise; yours, though, is full of life and movement. It is very good.” She made my heart swell with pride over my very imperfect picture. I would continue to send her pictures I drew for many years. One, she kept on display in her home for over 20 years and it was in her bedroom still when she passed away on October 27th. An imperfect, improperly proportioned picture that she loved because she knew it was my best and I made it for her.

Josephine was the backbone of steel for her family, who she would love and care for all of her life. She was an artist, as well, making beautiful drawings, ceramics, paintings, clothing, and even blankets. In her church in Pennsylvania, she was much beloved by all the young mothers for whom she made exquisite baby blankets and clothes. When her son got married, she made his wife custom fit fashionable clothing and when she had grandchildren, she made us clothes as well. Always fashionable, always things we were excited to wear. Once she told me she would carefully take note of how the other girls my age were dressed when she was in church so she would know what kind of clothes to make for me to ensure I was always up to speed with the latest fashion trends for my age bracket. I was in awe of her. For a woman whose life may have taken a turn that was the “opposite of a fairy tale,” she certainly would later become very much like a fairy Godmother.

Recently, Josephine suffered two of the most traumatic events a person can, both right near the same time: she lost her husband and she had to move to a new place, a nursing home, that she wasn't familiar with and where she had no friends. This was incredibly stressful for her but she kept worrying about everyone else and taking care of everyone else, anyway. She was always sending me little gifts, from a purse to a makeup mirror. She wanted to hear about the parties I went to and what I wore and how I used the purse she had given me to accessorize with; the same purse she herself had accessorized with for many, many years before. Her fingers were bent from arthritis and she could no longer draw or sew or paint but she still loved beautiful things and to talk about them and to share them.

When she lost her husband last year on May 29th, I think her heart broke and never quite repaired. She told me she dreamed of him every night. Every night, the same dream. She was in her old house in Pennsylvania and she would walk into the kitchen and there he would be and she would be amazed he was alive. She would reach out and touch him and he would be warm. “But you are dead!” She would exclaim. “How can you be warm?” He would smile at her with a twinkle in his eye and assure her, “Oh yes, I am still warm.”

He has been waiting for her this past year, visiting her only in her dreams. I miss them both. I know everyone who had the privilege of knowing them will miss them, but I am glad – so glad – that they are finally back together again.

Peyton Worley

November 1, 2013

Celebrating a life well lived. Josephine lived a wonderous and eventful life and told beautiful stories about her and her husband's life together. I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to know her these past 13 years. Josephine and her husband, Andrew, were extremely kind and loving and welcomed me into their family with open arms. I will miss you both.