Dr. Chieh Chu

DR. CHIEH ("JAY") CHU passed away peacefully on February 13, 2003, from pneumonia at St. Luke's Hospital in the loving presence of wife Kwen, son David, daughter Harriet and daughter-in-law Cristy, after a long and valiant struggle against Parkinson's Disease and Myelodisplastic Syndrome. Dr. Chu was born on January 17, 1922 to Chu Zi An, a school principal, and Sun Wan Wei in rural Linghu, part of Huzhou City in Chekiang, China. As a youth in war-torn China, he worked as an apprentice at a hardware store to help the family make ends meet. His father's hope for him was to some day make a living painting and selling fans; his mother only hoped he would live to the age of sixteen. He later attended National Chekiang University. While attending the university, he noticed a vivacious young beauty playing basketball and was immediately smitten by Kwen-Hwa Fei. Their love story survived the trials and tribulations of the war with Japan and the Chinese Civil War. During the war, he served as an interpreter for the American forces. He later received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. On April 11, 1948, he and Kwen were married and, after moving to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China, started a family. In 1953, while working for Chinese Petroleum at its Kaohsiung Refinery, Dr. Chu won a competition by placing first in a Taiwan-wide exam to spend one year in the United States, touring refineries. He returned to the United States in 1958 on scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, earning a Master of Science in 1959 and Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering in 1961. After securing a position with Sinclair Research Inc., he brought his family to Tulsa and eventually moved to Houston. Dr. Chu was Senior Research Consultant in the International Applications Unit of Texaco's Exploration and Production Technology Department in Houston before retiring in 1998. In 1993 he was named a Texaco Honorary Fellow, in recognition of exceptional achievement and contributions in his field. Prior to joining Texaco, he was a research scientist at Getty Oil Company and was a member of the engineering faculty at UCLA. An innovator in the area of thermal recovery simulation, Dr. Chu's work helped make possible Texaco's recovery of oil reserves once thought economically infeasible at several fields worldwide, including Kern River in California and Duri in Indonesia. Dr. Chu taught courses in thermal recovery, thermal simulation and related matters throughout the world. He was also a mentor to many. He authored more than 30 technical publications, and was co-author of "Three-Dimensional Simulation of Steamflooding" and "Numerical Simulation of Steam Displacement /Field Performance Applications", two of the most cited articles in thermal recovery simulation literature. In addition, he wrote the chapter entitled "Thermal Recovery," in the Petroleum Engineering Handbook, published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Descended from Chu Hsi, the philosopher, he had a lifelong passion for art, especially painting, classical music, foreign languages, literature, fine foods and humor. His mind was ever youthful and inquisitive despite years of bearing many physical burdens. As recent as one week prior to his death, he requested a copy of large-print Chinese-French dictionary. He also had many ideas for paintings, yet to be realized. Dr. Chu was the devoted husband of Kwen, and loving father of David Chu, Helen Chu Wagner (deceased), and Harriet Chu Abramson. He was a wonderful grandfather to James (deceased), Lawrence and Andrew Chu; Eric Wagner; and Alexander and Elizabeth Abramson. He was a loving brother to Chu Liang (deceased) and Chu Chuan. He was also a caring "Gonggong" to Katherine and Sarah Marie Wagner. He is also survived by Cristy Chu (wife to David), Martin (husband to Helen) and Hilary Wagner, and Barry Abramson (husband to Harriet). He also cherished his many friends and colleagues, especially his "lunch bunch". A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 22, at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home at 4:00 PM, 13001 Katy Freeway. Visitation will be from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. For those who wish, memorial donations may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc., 1501 N. W. 9th Avenue/Bob Hope Road, Miami FL 33136.