Chi Kang Tung

童傅志剛 Chi-Kang Fu Tung

Chi-Kang (“Helen”) Tung was born in 1917 in Liling, Hunan (湖南醴陵), the middle child between two Chi-Kang brothers. In 1920, when Helen was 3 years old, her father went to France to study. When she was in middle school, her father came back to China and opened a Hunan silk embroidery shop in Harbin, Heilongjiang – some 1,700 miles from Liling. Undeterred by the distance, Helen cajoled an uncle and a cousin into taking the two month long journey with her and her mother to Harbin to reunite with her father.

In 1932, Harbin fell to a Japanese invasion. Helen said it happened much more quickly than anyone expected. Her father, fearing the invasion, had already left for Chongqing to move his shop there before sending for his family. Helen, disguised as a farmer boy with muddy face and dirty clothes, was able to escape with her mother, making their way back to Hunan. Her father had the wits to look for them in the old countryside and the family was reunited.

By 1937, Helen had settled in Chongqing and finished high school despite the second Chinese-Japanese War. She wanted to be a nurse, and this required passing an entrance exam offered miles away. She walked most of the way, taking buses where they were available. Seven hours later, she made it to the exam location as the exam was finishing. Though she could not finish the exam in time, Helen was admitted anyway because her courage and persistence were the most desired qualities for the profession. After obtaining her nursing degree, she also earned a midwife license from National Nursing and Midwifery School (國立中央高級助產職業學校).
She was married in April 1945 at age 28. She had many suitors at the time; she always said that she picked the one who had the most integrity. Her husband graduated with an Economics degree from National Chengchi University in Nanjing. He worked most of his life for Central Trust of China, once the preeminent financial institution in China.

Her first daughter was born in Chongqing a year after she was married. Helen contracted typhoid fever and was not expected to live. Funeral arrangements were made, but she fought for her life and made a miraculous recovery. As the war ended, her husband was assigned to an office in Shanghai, her brothers returned from abroad, and her parents also moved to Shanghai. Her second daughter was born in Shanghai in 1947, delivered by her older brother.

Soon after, civil war in China broke out. Her husband was sent by Central Trust of China to set up a branch in Taiwan, months before things went from bad to worse. When Helen went with her husband on the three-month business assignment, little did she know she would not see her parents and siblings again for over 30 years! Helen had three more daughters in Taiwan. It was no secret that she was trying to have a son but when the 5th daughter came along, she supposedly declared that even if the 6th one was guaranteed to be a son, she didn’t want one any more. She’d had enough! Life in Taiwan was good: she had her midwife clinic at home (she delivered several hundred babies) and she was busy with her husband and five daughters. She worked in nursing administration until she retired. Her husband did very well in his career and became a well-known banker in the financial industry. She also became a Christian during this period.

In 1978, Helen and her husband visited two of their daughters living in the U.S. They ended up staying permanently after the dramatic announcements of the formal recognition of the communist People’s Republic of China by the United States, and subsequent severing of relations with Taiwan. Ironically, this political situation also opened up mainland China and allowed Helen to visit in 1980 and reconnect with her family after so many years. Her father had passed away but she was able to see her mother, then age 92, and the rest of the family.

They settled in Philadelphia. Inquisitive as ever, Helen immediately signed up for English and international cooking classes. Life in Philadelphia was peaceful, if at times frustrating; they missed Taiwan. Soon after, two more daughters emigrated to the U.S. They lived in Philadelphia for 18 years before deciding it was too hard to negotiate the stairs in the row house and moved closer to the two daughters in New Jersey.

To Helen’s husband, she was the most generous person, always eager to help others – this was his toast to her at their 40-year wedding anniversary gathering. To her five daughters, she was the best cook, the best sweater-knitter, the best swimmer in the family, the one who secretly let them into their locked house past curfew, and the one always eager to learn new things. To her seven grandchildren, she seemed to be always bustling around and magically turning up all their favorite dishes. Helen often expressed her love through food to her four great-grandchildren, too.

Fiercely independent, often impatient, always learning, and fearless, Helen learned how to swim all on her own in a little creek after watching one of Esther Williams’ movies. She had the best calligraphy in the family, produced amazing banquets, and loved to sing even though she could not quite carry a tune. Funny, observant, and a genuinely warm woman, she will be missed by many.