Wen Chao Chen

KALAMAZOO, MI - Wen Chao Chen wore many hats during his 36 years at Kalamazoo College and as one of Kalamazoo's more influential citizens, but despite often changing roles he never failed to be a leader. Chen died around noon on Monday at Friendship Village in Kalamazoo. He was 92. "Dr. Wen Chao Chen was an extraordinarily loving person," said Kalamazoo College President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran. "He especially loved Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo community. He worked tirelessly for decades to help make each the best it could be. Dr. Chen had a brilliant mind and a gift for bringing people together. He often said he felt fortunate to be embraced by the community, but the people who continue to be touched by his legacy know just how much his life enriched all of ours." Chen joined the faculty of Kalamazoo College in 1950 as professor of political science. During his 36-year career with the college, he also served as librarian, director of academic services, dean of special services, vice president, acting president, and executive director of the L. Lee Stryker Center. He also helped establish the Heyl Scholarship program, which brings outstanding area high school graduates to Kalamazoo College to study science and to Western Michigan University to study nursing. He was a recipient of Kalamazoo College's Weimer K. Hicks Award, among countless others accolades, and was named a first Fellow of the College, Emeritus. He was a civic activist and one of the first predominant Chinese citizens in Kalamazoo. His enthusiasm for the community did not wane when his academic career came to an end in 1987. After retiring, he headed the Kalamazoo Nature Center board, has sat on the YMCA board and was co-chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Kalamazoo Public Library millage campaign. He also co-founded the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music and helped establish the Kalamazoo Network, which developed leadership opportunities for women. He also helped establish the Kalamazoo Forum, which brought together business and academic leaders to discuss community-wide issues, and the Core Council of Governments, which sought greater cooperation among Kalamazoo County municipalities. Early life Chen was born in Chen Village in China's Shanxi Province in 1919. As he depicts in compositions written for his grandchildren, titled "Letters From Grandpa," he explains how he lived with his older brother and sister-in-law, who paid for his early education in boarding school. After serving in the Chinese army, working as a tax collector and then working for the Chinese Red Cross as a medic during the 1930s, Chen joined the Chinese Ministry of Communications' radio school, where he learned Morse code in 1940. By 1944, when China and the United States were allies in World War II, Chen became a lieutenant in the Chinese army and a chief interpreter. His proficiency in English and Morse code led to the army sending him and 100 other translators to America for more radio training, according to the published letters to his grandchildren. After World War II ended, and Chen enrolled at Grinnell College in Iowa, where he worked as a houseboy for the president, John Everton. Everton later became president of Kalamazoo College and helped Chen get a job at the college, according to earlier Gazette articles. Instead of returning to China, he moved to Kalamazoo in 1950 and he never left. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1983 but never forgot his Chinese roots, which he recalls in his memoir and letters to his grandchildren. In addition to Lilia, his wife of 62 years, Chen is survived by sons Michael Niki of St. Charles, Ill., and Philip Janet Lootens Chen of Ann Arbor; and grandchildren Alice Chen of San Antonio, Texas; Megan Chen of Falls Church, Va., and Dylan Chen of Ann Arbor. Memorial gifts may be directed to the Wen Chao Chen Chair in East Asian Social Sciences at Kalamazoo College, 1200 Academy St., Kalamazoo, MI, 49006. A memorial service will take place on Sunday, September 23 at 2:00 P.M. at Stetson Chapel on the Kalamazoo College campus.