Eulogy for John Fang Sun
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June 27, 2003 At Rose Hills Hillside Chapel, Los Angeles
Mr. Sun was born on December 12, 1942 in Yen Chen County, Jiang Su Province. His father was a well-liked and highly-regarded scholar, and a teacher of Chinese Literature. His mother was a stern and loving housewife. As a boy, John was very bright, obedient, and diligent in his schoolwork. Math and science were his best subjects. He had a thirst for knowledge, and would always broaden his learning outside the textbooks as well. He was a model student and a talented young man.
Out of thousands of students in his region, John earned the highest score on the high school entrance exam. Upon graduation, he earned the honor and privilege of entering Taiwan University Engineering College and was exempted from the mandatory college entrance exam, due to his outstanding scholastic achievement.
In 1968, John took an overseas engineering employment opportunity and came to the U.S. While working full-time, he attended Columbia University, finishing his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering in 2 years. He then continued on working towards a Ph.D. in his free time, while juggling a full time job, a family, and his schoolwork.
John had worked for major companies such as Quindar Electronics, ITT, TRW, Litton, and Fibermux as Vice President of Engineering. Before coming to the U.S. in 1968, John married his long time girlfriend and schoolmate, Miss Sue Feng Yang. They have two sons and a daughter together. Damon, the oldest son, majored in Business, and is now the general manager of the L.A. office of Thiland¡¯s major enterprise, Siam Cement Group. Nancy studied Medicine, and is now an emergency medicine doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Raymond majored in Economics and Computer Science, and currently designs software for Icon Group International. Raymond is engaged to Miss Thu Vu and they are planning on getting married next year. Thu is a buyer for Syrrx biotechnology company in San Diego. John¡¯s son-in-law, Geoff, is a Captain and pilot in the Marine Corps, flying harriers, and is just back from Operation in Iraq. John passed along to his children his work ethic and strong sense of values. He may find comfort in heaven that his children have all grown up to be upstanding citizens and have wonderful and bright futures ahead of them.
John was generous man who had a ¡°straightforward¡± personality. He always loved to help his friends and family. Very tragically, his life was abruptly ceased, and he passed away at Garfield Medical Center on June 18th, at the age of 61. Not only did his closest relatives find it hard to bear the loss, but all of his acquaintances and friends were saddened and shocked by the news. He was deeply loved and will be sorely missed. We are all losing a good friend who never hesitated to lend a helping hand.
Although he has left us physically, his memories will always be with us. All his life John was always diligent and prudent, and he treated others with respect, warmth and with his whole heart. We will always remember and honor his memory. These words of comfort were recently passed from one generation of family to another:
¡°He who was gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent nay, more present, than the living man.¡±
We are all here to pray for him, wishing him to find eternal peace in God¡¯s Kingdom.
