Li Jen Kuan

Li “Lee” Jen Kuan was born April 15, 1960 in Taichung, Taiwan, to Tsung Jung Kuan and Fu Fang Chang, the first of two children. He passed on at the age of 65 on July 21, 2025, surrounded by his family and friends.

Li had fond memories of his childhood spent in Taiwan with his grandparents and extended family. He had a repertoire of stories about the mischief he got into with friends. In a favorite tale he often told, they would swipe sugar cane off a slow-moving train, eat the bounty, swim in the large vat used to boil the cane, and get chased off by the factory workers.

His parents relocated the family to São Paulo, Brazil in 1975 when Li was 14. They lived there until 1979 when his father, “in search of a better life” for his family, immigrated them to Texas where Li resided for the rest of his life.

Li was very proud of graduating from Incarnate Word Academy in Corpus Christi in 1981, where he made strong lifelong friendships. Many of these friends would continue to gather for “the boys” weekends at the ranch and commune as only they could do. He loved them dearly and considered their friendship one of the great blessings of his life.

After high school, Li attended Del Mar College where he renewed his passion for swimming, a sport he went on to practice for decades. An avid swimmer and lover of the water, Li would take to the pool at the Corpus Christi Athletic Club three days a week, and spent much of his free time at the beach as well, fishing and soaking up the sunshine. In 1992 he married the love of his life Marci King. They laughed and loved each other well for 33 years, and had three wonderful children together.

He ran the family business, the Golden Pacific Restaurant in Corpus Christi, for many years, where he welcomed all kinds of people to share food and friendship. After closing the restaurant he reinvented himself as a car dealer, opening Airline Motors in 2004. He loved cars, but also prided himself on taking care of people. He worked hard, treated everyone like a friend with empathy and respect, and always had a helping hand to extend.

Li had many passions - he loved and protected his family fiercely, cherished his friendships, and found great joy in his hobbies. He was an avid angler who enjoyed fishing with his friends. He relished his time volunteering with the Corpus Christi IceRays hockey team. An afternoon at the gun club brought him immense pleasure. And traveling with his wife was a fantastic adventure.

Li is survived by his wife of thirty-three years Marcella Kuan, son Alexander Kuan (Plano, Texas); daughter Kaitlin Bowers and her husband Franklin Bowers, grandson Max Bowers (Olympia, Washington); his mother Fu Fang Chang (Tomball, Texas); sister Chuan Kuan Uttley and her husband Richard Uttley Sr. also of Tomball; brothers and sisters in law, Joe and Carol King (Hayward, California), Diane King, Delvaughn King, Rollis and Luann King, Thomas and Sharron King, Rena and Burl Buhr, Evelyn Fowler, Michelle and Steven Nordmark all of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, along with many nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends who loved him dearly. He was preceded in death by his father Tsung Jung Kuan and daughter Morgan Yuan Cheng Kuan.

Visitation will take place Saturday, July 26 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Winstead Funeral Home in Portland, Texas. A celebration of life will be held on the same day at Nueces Brewing and BBQ from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Dress casual, please come as you are. In accordance with his wishes, Li will be interred at Lake Region Mennonite Church in rural Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, next to his daughter Morgan. Services will be held August 9, 2025.

“For love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.”