Thomas Chung Min Chen

Thomas Chung Min Chen
June 21, 1926 – May 23, 2021
Resident of Hermosa Beach, CA

Thomas Chung Min Chen, age 94, passed peacefully at Providence Little Company of St. Mary on May 23, 2021 after a brief bout of pneumonia.
He was born June 21, 1926 as the first child of five in a rural mountaintop farming town near Taichung, Taiwan during the Japanese occupation. From his excellent grammar school marks, he received a boarding scholarship to attend the 5-year Taichung Technical High School. He subsequently attended Cheng Kung University in Tainan and graduated in 1951 as the first of his class in Electrical Engineering. During this period, the country transitioned from Japanese to Chinese occupation following World War II. After graduation, Thomas worked at the Taiwan Telecommunication Bureau. Taking on the major project of converting telephone switching from manual operators to automated systems in Tainan as well as other technological improvements, he rose to the rank of Taipei Branch Manager. Through the introduction of a senior manager at the bureau, he met and married Peggy Pe-Yu Lai, and had three children, Bill, Bob, and Patty.
He traveled to Japan and the United States on behalf of the bureau to learn advances in telecommunications. During his trip to the US, he netted a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. Upon his return to Taiwan, he rose in the bureau to lead a key substation in Taipei. But further advancement required joining the ruling Nationalist Party which he declined. He sought opportunities instead for a better life for his family in the US by starting a Ph.D. at Iowa State University in 1963. After a summer job at General Telephone & Electronics (GTE) in 1964, they offered him a full-time job along with an offer to bring the rest of the family to the US in 1965. He transferred and switched to an evening Ph.D. program at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) for his studies while working full time at GTE during the day.
After completing his Ph.D. in 1971 specializing in satellite telecommunications, Thomas and Peggy moved to New Jersey to work at IT&T, later relocating to Los Angeles where he worked in the aerospace industry and contributed to telecommunications work at numerous companies including Litton Industries, Hughes, NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories), and TRW (now Northrop Grumman).
In 1984, Peggy sadly passed away. Years later, Thomas met and remarried Yinju (Katie) Lin and had another son, George, in 1987. After retirement from TRW in 1991, he enjoyed spending time with his family, swimming, and working on home improvement projects. In his later years, he and Katie traveled the world with friends before a dementia diagnosis and health complications prevented him from being able to travel much more than an annual family road trip.
Socially, Thomas was known to be intelligent, hardworking, and resourceful. He was inventive at home and encouraged his children to pursue their curiosities. He was also kind to his family and children and allowed much freedom in their upbringing. He is survived by his wife Katie, and children Bill, Patty, Bob, and George, their spouses, and five grandchildren.
We will greatly miss him, and we know he is at peace.

陳聰敏
1926 年 6 月 21 日 – 2021 年 5 月 23 日

94歲的陳聰敏在經歷了短暫的肺炎後，於2021年5月23日在聖瑪麗的普羅維登斯醫院和平安祥過世。
他於 1926 年 6 月 21 日出生在日本佔領期間台灣台中附近的一個農村山區(龍井鄉)農業小鎮，是五個孩子中的第一個。憑藉優異的成績在龍岡國小畢業，他獲得了寄宿獎學金，進入了 5 年制台中高級工業職業學校。隨後，他就讀於台南的成功大學，並於 1951 年以第一名畢業於電機工程系。在此期間，台灣在二戰後從日本佔領回歸到中華民國。畢業後，陳聰敏在交通部台灣電信管理局工作。承擔台南電話轉接由人工轉為自動化系統的重大工程以及其他技術改進，他晉升為台北分公司經理。通過局內一位高級經理的介紹，他認識並結婚賴 碧玉，並育有三個孩子 - 俊輝、瑞玲、和俊哲。
他代表該局前往日本和美國考察，學習電信方面的進展。在美國考察一年期間，他獲得了普度大學電氣工程碩士學位。看到在美國的機會越來越多，生活越來越好，他決定回台灣後把家人移居美國。 1963年辭去台灣高薪職位，攻讀博士學位。伊利諾伊理工學院的項目。在 GTE 找到一份新的暑期工作後，他在白天全職工作的同時轉而參加夜校學習，並於 1965 年與家人在美國團聚。
完成博士學位後。 1971 年專攻衛星通信，陳聰敏和妻子 碧玉 搬到新澤西州，他在IT&T工作，後來搬到洛杉磯從事航空人造衛星通信，包括 Litton Industries、Hughes、NASA JPL 在內的多家公司從事電信工作，和TRW公司。
1984年，妻子 碧玉不幸去世。陳聰敏與林盈如再婚，並於1987年生下第三個兒子陳俊德。1991年從TRW公司退休後，他喜歡與家人共度時光、游泳和家裡裝修項目。在晚年，再一次出遊中被發現他失憶症，後來盈如常帶他與友人結伴出遊，多年後，被診斷出癡呆症和健康並發症，使他無法進行每年一次的家庭公路旅行。
在社交上，陳聰敏以聰明、勤奮和足智多謀著稱。他在家裡很有創造力，並鼓勵他的孩子追求他們的好奇心。他對家人和孩子也很友善，在他們的成長過程中給予了很大的自由。他的妻子盈如和孩子們俊輝、瑞玲、俊哲、和俊德、及他們的配偶、和兩個孫子三個孫女。
我們都會非常想念他，我們知道他很平靜，願他往生極樂世界。