Maria Chien
Maria Kuan Chien passed peacefully on July 3, 2010, after living 6 years with cancer. During this period of resisting cancer, she gained three lovely grand sons, but was not able to enjoy with her friends in partying, tennis, ballroom dancing, traveling; and most of all, buying nice things at bargain prices.
Beloved wife of Henry, loving mother of Michael (Debbie) and David (Erin), dearest grand mother of Ryan, Andrew and Jason, dear sister of two brothers and a sister, dear sister-in-law to nine, dear aunt and great aunt to many, and friend to many.
According to her wishes, there will not be a memorial service. Memorial contributions may be sent to “Maria Kuan Chien Fund” at the “Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict” (104 Chapel Lane, St. Joseph, MN 56374-0220) for “the use of assisting educational efforts of Catholic Church in China and other related China educational projects”; or to your favorite charities.
Welcome your entries to her guest-book.
Dear Uncle Henry,
Marvin and I would like to offer our deepest condolences to you, Michael & Debbie, David & Erin, during this most difficult time.
I’m forever greatful for the roles you and Auntie Maria played in bringing my family to the US 24 years ago August. It was a huge undertaking. It was your kindness and generocity that made it possible. I know my life is better today thanks to you and Auntie Maria.
Please stay strong for all of us!
With love,
Debbie, Marvin and the boys
Hi Henry,
We are so sorry to hear such stunning sad news. Maria was so lovely and sweet. We will miss her forever. We still remember we all used to dance together in the party or in the dance lesson and she was such a beautiful dancer. And two of you performed so well and we were so jealous about it. Please accept our condolence, smooth your emotion and look forward for the future. May God bless her in the heaven.
Dennis and Madeline
Henry,
We are sorry to hear about the sad news. Please accept our deepest condolences to you and your family.
Clarence and Katherine Chang
Please accept our deepest condolences.
We had prayed many times at our church services for Maria. We prayed lately that God would relieve her of pain. She is in a better world now with God. We will meet again.
Henry, you should sigh with relieve and live on.
Dear Uncle Henry, Michael, Debbie, David, and Erin,
We express our deepest sympathy on the passing of Aunt Maria. We share comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering. Our thoughts and support go out to you as you begin your journey without Aunt Maria. She was a wonderful aunt to me, and my family. Aunt Maria brought so many gifts to our life and she will be missed. She will always be in our hearts and memories.
Our hearts go out to you in your time of sorrow.
Love, Genevieve, Earl and Matthew
Dear Henry:
Mei and I are sorry to learn that your loving wife and our long-time friend, Maria, has passed away.
Maria was full of spirit, with a jest for life. As I remember, she loves to dance and she laughs a lot. It’s fun to be with her. We’ll sorely miss her.
For you, this must be the end of a very tough journey, as you cared for her for years. You might feel relieved. But, death is so final. Undoubtedly you’ll grief for a long time.
Henry, I feel for you. Having experienced grief myself with Alice’s passing, I am willing to share my experience on how to deal with grief with you. I sought outside help.
Please feel free to call on me if I can be of help or service at this difficult time.
With best wishes,
Bob Lee
We are saddened to hear of our loss of Maria. She was a beautiful lady. Now she is up in heaven…no more pains…but her spirit will continue to live in the hearts of her family and friends. It was quite an honor to have known Maria. Thank you Henry.
Dear Uncle Henry,
We are so sorry about your loss. Now Aunt Maria got peace in the heaven and no more pain, but she will
always be in our hearts. We are praying that God will be with you to comfort you and surround you with His love. Best wishes, Margaret & Ashley
Dear Henry Chien and Family,
My sincere sympathy at the loss of your wife, mother and grandmother. I remember both of you when you were college students at St. John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict in the 1950s.
Setting up a fund in Maria’s name for educational efforts related to the Catholic Church in China is a wonderful gift. I just returned from a Study Tour with Maria’s sister,
Sister Baulu Kuan. It was
a rich cultural experience.
My prayers for all who knew and loved Maria.
Dear Henry and Sons,
I was saddened to hear of Maria’s death. I remember her and you from your college days
in Minnesota in the 1950s.
May your best memories give you all comfort.
Thank you for establishing a
Maria Kuan Chien Fund in supporting educational efforts
related to the China Catholic Church.
I recently returned from a study tour of China with S.
Baulu Kuan; it was a richly rewarding experience.
Blessings!
Dear Uncle Henry,
We are so sorry to hear about the sad news. Auntie Maria was our favorite. We will truly miss her and keep her in our hearts forever. Both of you are the most selfless and caring individuals. Even while you had many things going on in your lives, you still reached out a hand to help us. We still remember coming to your house and eating one of her meals a few years ago. Even though Auntie Maria wasn’t feeling her best, she still cared for us. Auntie Maria’s thoughtfulness and warm heart will always be remembered. We thank you for everything you and Auntie Maria have given us. Uncle Henry, please take care.
With love,
Anna, Westcott, Geoffrey, and Ramona
Dear Uncle Henry,
We are so sorry to hear about the sad news. Auntie Maria was our favorite. We will truly miss her and keep her in our hearts forever. Both of you are the most selfless and caring individuals. Even while you had many things going on in your lives, you still reached out a hand to help us. We still remember coming to your house and eating one of her meals a few years ago. Even though Auntie Maria wasn’t feeling her best, she still cared for us. Auntie Maria’s thoughtfulness and warm heart will always be remembered. We thank you for everything you and Auntie Maria have given us. Uncle Henry, please take care.
With love,
Anna, Westcott, Geoffrey, and Ramona
Dear Henry:
We are not yet recovering from heard the sad news one week ago.
We regret for not visit St. Louis one more time, standing besides Maria, chatting with her, doing something for her, even she didn’t allow us to do so.
All the good moments we spent with her will be kept in memories forever.
Count Jane as the tenth to “dear sister-in-law to nine”
Dear Henry:
Janet and I so sorry to hear about the sad news of Maria’s passing. We will always have fond memories of being with Maria and you at engineering parties. May God bless you and the family and give you peace. Our deepest codolences.
Jim and Janet
Dear Henry:
We learned from Clarence Chang that Maria has just passed away after many years suffering with illness. While we all miss her on earth, we believe she will be peaceful in heaven. Please accept our condulance.
William & Anne
Dear Henry:
We learned from Clarence Chang that Maria has passed away.We believe that she will be more peaceful in Heaven.
Please accept our condulance.
Dearest Uncle Henry, We are saddened by the passing of Aunt Maria. She was a wonderful, caring, and generous person. Both you and Aunt Maria helped our family so much and we are forever thankful. Without you and Aunt Maria, we would not be able to have the life we have today. She will be in our hearts and memories forever. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. With love, Jennifer, Rob, Kevin, and Jessica
There are no words that can express our feeling right now.
We are so grateful for having such nice person – Maria be my sister-in-law, changed our life forever.
We will always remember you.
Rest in peace, my dearest sister-in-law Maria.
With love, Violet and William
Dear Uncle Henry, In this time of deepest sorrow and sadness, please accept my heartfelt sympathy on the passing of Aunt Maria. Her kindness is and will be forever remembered. With Love, Ken
Hi Henry,
I am very sorry to hear about Maria’s death. I know what she had been throuth in the last six years. Nobody can go throuth so many procedure. I am glad that she is finally relieved from this pain. She is at peace now. Take care of yourself and come to visit us in California soon.
Love
Frank
Hi Uncle Henry
Sorry to hear Aunt Maria had pass away, we will miss her dearly.
she is at better place then this crazy world of our, I know you always is
the strong and silence type, and you think your ready for this after 6
years, but no one can be ready to leave someone they love after 40
some years, Uncle Henry be strong for rest of your family, they need you
more then ever now.
I’m sorry it have taking me so long to write you, but for some reason i
couldn’t get your e-mail address from anyone, but now I had your contact
info, so I will call you from time to time just to say Hi if you don’t mind,
you need to come out here to Calif and visit everyone.
I’m sure my Dad and uncle Mory will love to see you, and we do too.
Please stay in touch
Freddie
Dear Uncle Henry, it is a long time since we last communicated with each other, but I can still remember the time we spent in St. Louis with you, Aunt Maria, Michael and David, it brings back a lot of wonderful memories. we heard the sad news about Aunt Maria from Uncle Moray and my Dad, we just like to offer our deepest sympathy to you, Michael, David and their families. knowing Aunt Maria is at a better place, it is time for you to be strong and take good care of yourself. we hope to see you sometime soon in California, either Northern Calif or Southern Calif, just give us a call and we will come get you. best regards, Eddie, Ashley, Scotty, Nick, Krizia, and Eddie Jr. Chien
Dear Henry,
At this time of your loss, I have trouble finding words to express our sorrow for losing such a dear friend and a great lady.
We had met Maria through your participation of our choir and had enjoyed
numerous times of her culinary talent . I had chances to visit or chat
with her through the years since we met.
She was a strong lady. When facing life’s threats, she soldiered on and took
up the challenges without compliants. Instead, I heard her praising your loving
care, your family’s support and her doctors’ medical acumen and compassion.
Life is not fair for taking her away from us so young when she could start enjoying
her retirement and your newly added grandchildren. I know she has many concerns when she bravely faced the end of her life.
Hope you and your family would carry on her desire of you all leading a fulfill life
and be content with what you are blessed with. And know that she is at peace now.
We will forever morn the loss of Maria, dears to many and respected by us. Her smile and friendship will be remembered forever.
We specially wish you find time to rest and gain peace at this difficult time.
When you are ready, come back to the singing group, I am sure you know that
these people are like family.
Thinking of you, your sons and their families.
Joe and Vicky Yang
Henry, May heartfelt thoughts bring you comfort and loving memories bring you peace! If my personal experience is any indication, I know how you are feeling. May God be with you and your family!
Henry, Long after we’ve said our good-byes, our hearts will remember! Maria, you are the “true” princess (??) we know in person and will be so remembered forever! Rogana & Herb
As one of Maria’s tennis friends,I remember how much fun she made our games so it didn’t matter so much if we didn’t always win. It’s been six years since she was part of our tennis group but we continue to remember her and repeat some of her amusing sayings. We all remember when she had ten of us for lunch at your home and gave us each the gift of her hand knitted scarf–always thinking of others. She was a sweet, funny, and caring lady. Deepest sympathy to you and your family.
Dear Henry, We are saddened by the loss of your beloved Maria. She will be thought of often and remembered fondly. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. With our deepest sympathy, May and Bob
Dear Henry and family,
Henry and Family,
I was also also very saddened when I heard of Maria’s illness then passing.
I was one of many coworkers that admired & considered Maria a very dear friend. We had many wonderful lunches together. We laughed so hard. She was my only chinese friend! She had a great sense of humor and did love to laugh.
Even though I only met you twice and didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Michael and David, I knew all about you. She was so proud.!
My prayers will be with you & your family. She leaves a wonderful legacy.
God Bless,
Barb Hanley
Hi, Henry,
We were so saddened by the news of Maria. We worried very much for you and hope you are better now, but how could one be better when one lost one’s loved one? We think of you a lot and hope you will go back to your routine, work may divert your sorrows.
Maria was a wonderful friend. Maria & you went to columbus to find an apt. for our daughter, Vanessa when she was going to U. of Missouri’s school of journalism. Maria was so considerate and even arranged a fan delivered to her apt. because of the hot weather there. Vanessa really felt the warmth from you and we were so very grateful.
We still remember that lovely spring afternoon two years ago at your home, Maria made all the effort to see us and we knew she was not feeling well and still put up a brave front. The get together was short but was so meaningful for us, we will never forget the beautiful Maria with that charming smile. She was so proud to show us the pictures of the grand children, and they were lovely. We shall always miss her.
We treasure the frienship of Maria and you , we hope you will come to vist us in Canada soon. Henry, only when you live the life to the fullest, Maria will be at peace in heaven!
Love Claudia & Wei Kao
Dear Henry, Michael and David, “Thinking of you at this difficult time” is exactly what we are doing these days. Of course, we are remembering Maria and those days we shared with her too! She had given us so much fun and profound friendship for such a long time. We will forever keep those in our hearts and remember her with love. She is resting peacefully in Heaven waiting for us to join her. For now please take good care of each other as Maria told you to. May God bless you! Love, George and Nora
Henry, I have thought about Maria so often, since I got your email. Maria was like a diamond–she sparkled. When we gathered for tennis, it was happier when she got there. Her wit, her encouraging remarks, her toughness made all of us smile and try harder. She had so many “facets” to her life. Her love of poetry, the discipline of ballroom dancing, her graciousness when she entertained, her pride in her family and the love for her grandsons; even though she didn’t get the “blonde blue-eyed” grand daughter she always talked about. Peace and Blessings, Alice and Vern
Dear Henry and family, No words can touch what you are feeling inside. No one can soften the sorrow. Still we are thinking about you, care about you and share in your sadness. Maria was a great friend of mine. I miss her very much. She is in my thoughts every day. With love, Helen and T. C.
Dear Henry, With time, sorrow may fade, but memories will live on! Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time. Will miss her! Love, Randy and Lin
Dear Uncle Chien, Michael, and David, I want to express my deepest sympathy on the passing of Auntie Chien. Although I have only met her a handful of times, but I will forever remember her vibrant smiles and joyful presence. Let us always remember her and have her live on in our memories.