Lun Chan

On the evening of Monday, June 20, 2011, Lun Chan passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his loving wife and 6 children. Born in San Francisco in 1927, as the son of a traveling herbalist, Lun spent his childhood in cities across the United States.At the age of 17 he enlisted in the US Air Force and served in the intelligence department decoding enemy communications.After serving his country, he returned to the west coast to study at UC Berkeley and received a Masters degree in Architecture in 1951.

Through the 1950s, Lun worked at John Carl Warnecke and Associates, which at the time was one of the nation's largest architectural firms. Lun's unique talent and creative skills were soon recognized and he was rapidly promoted to chief designer for the practice. During his tenure, he designed major buildings on the campuses of U.C. Berkeley and Stanford, and the highly praised capitol building for the Navajo Nation in Window Rock. His final project at the firm was the Hawaii State Capitol building which received a National American Institute of Architects Design Award.

In 1961, Lun and his colleague, Morton Rader, founded Chan/Rader and Associates in San Francisco.With the passing of Morton Rader in 1977, the firm became Lun Chan Associates. During a half century of practicing architecture, Lun completed a wide variety of projects on five continents.While he utilized his considerable creative talents on large scale projects like the University of the Americas in Mexico, Canada College in Redwood City, MountainView College in Dallas, the San Carlos Civic Center; shopping malls, and federally subsidized housing projects, Lun was just as intensely dedicated to his work on smaller projects, which included numerous residences designed for friends and family.

Because Lun loved restaurants and great food, he was particularly passionate about his work for the dining and hospitality industry.

The work not only allowed him to travel to many cities in the US such as NewYork for the The Marco Polo Club in the Waldorf-Astoria, but also to travel abroad to Europe, Asia, and Africa designing restaurants for Trader Vic's and Benihana as well as hotels in the Middle East. Locally, his interior design work for The Mandarin, Chez Panisse,Yank Sing and The Hong Kong Flower Lounge restaurants connected him with some of the Bay Area's most celebrated restaurateurs.

Lun was one of those lucky individuals who found an occupation that became a life long passion. He loved the concept design phase of a project. He thrived on finding innovative solutions to spaces that created the wonderful environments for which he became known. He effortlessly produced beautiful design sketches and enjoyed working with other designers, engineers and contractors to realize his ideas. As he aged, he told friends and colleagues that he would 'never retire'.This conviction was tested in 2006, when a stroke left him partially paralyzed.Although his body was beginning to fail, his mind was still sharp as ever, and Lun continued to work.As an octogenarian, he travelled to locations as far away as Bahrain and Dubai to present designs and oversee the completion of his projects.Those who knew Lun will remember him for his great talents and optimism, but also for his quiet determination and commitment to the profession he loved - a passion he passed on to his own children, five of whom have gone on to careers in architecture, furniture design, and graphic design.The sixth child is a physician and emergency department director who takes care of the family.

While his work seemed always close at hand, Lun was an avid fan of the local sports teams, particularly the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers. He also enjoyed a good game of cards, playing the stock market and keeping up on world events and politics.

Lun is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Eva, his children Alex, Erik, Chris,Ted, Heather and Becky, his sisters Fong and Pearl, and his brothers George and Peter. He took great joy in his grandchildren Dusty, Jonathan,TJ, Eric,Trevor, Danielle, Lauren, Marcus, Matthew, Eva,Ana, Mikey, and Sascha.

We give thanks for a life well lived, and we will miss him terribly.

Donations in Lun's memory may be made to KQED (www.kqed.org ), the Kidney Trust (www.kidneytrust.org) or the U.C. Berkeley CED (College of Environmental Design) Fund www.ced.berkeley.edu/alumni/giving/ cedfund .