Nathan Louie

1940 - 2025

Nathan Louie
06/17/1940 - 02/01/2025
As an exuberant presence at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose and as a dedicated educator, Nathan Louie put his full energies into every endeavor.
Nathan died peacefully on February 1, 2025, in Sunnyvale, CA. He was 84.
Born in San Fransico on June 17, 1940, Nathan was the youngest child of Antoinette (Mark) and Raymond Louie, Sr. Nathan and his siblings-Caroline, Raymond, Jr., Steven, and Madeline-grew up in Chinatown on Doric Alley; their childhoods were centered around Sing Chong, the landmark pagoda-roofed Chinese emporium that was owned by family members of Raymond, Sr., and where many of the siblings worked.
Nathan graduated with a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University in 1958. His first teaching position was in Clearlake, CA, where he taught 5th, 6th, and 7th grades at Lower Lake Elementary. He went on to the Santa Clara Unified School District and earned his master's degree in education from San Jose State University. He spent the remainder of his long career at Monticello Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School, teaching 5th and 6th grades; on occasion, he even had the children of his former pupils in his classrooms. He retired in 2000. Even through his final years, former students would visit.
Committed to lifelong learning, Nathan took up playing the piano and studying Mandarin Chinese. A trip to China in 1990 reinforced Nathan's passion for his cultural heritage; he loved caring for and decorating his cherished Victorian home in San Jose, filling it with dragons, foo dogs, and statuary objects both inside and out. He avidly kept up with films and books by Asian American creatives; he became what the San Jose Mercury News called "Cinequest's Most Familiar Face" as a greeter at its annual film festival at the California Theatre, nattily attired in Chinese imperial-style robes or with a top hat and cane. He also volunteered with the Chinese Cultural Historical Project and the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest.
Nathan is survived by his sister, Madeline (Louie) Shaw, of San Jose; his niece, Andrea, of New York; and a wide community of friends.