Mary Quen Chinn's Obituary
On May 28, 1923, Charles Hang Quen married Yung
Keng Woo in Duluth Minnesota. Mary Hang Quen
was born April 10, 1926 joining brothers George and
Paul.
The Quens moved to the San
Francisco Bay Area in 1927 where
siblings, Mabel, Eugene and Marie were born. Mary
attended Clawson Elementary School, Prescott Junior
High School and Oakland Technical High School
where the social butterfly met the quietly studious
Stanley Leon Chinn.
After returning from WWII, Mary and Stan hit the
nightclubs and were married on October 11, 1947 at St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church on Lake Merritt in Oakland.
Daughter Christine Jennifer arrived in 1950 and son
Martin Kent in 1952. By 1957 the family had moved to
Hayward. Mary tolerated housework, but what she
enjoyed was the suburban life with an army of gal
pals. Weekends were spent with the Quen and
Chinn clans.
In 1965 Mary’s family of four moved to Oakland and
purchased the Hansen’s house at 3837 Brighton
Avenue. Chris left for the dorms at UCSF in 1970
and Martin stayed at home until 1979.
As empty nesters, Mary and Stan flew to Hawaii
and Disney World in Florida. But Stan was US Air
Force ground support for the Flying Tigers and had enough of
airplanes, so Mary toured the Far East and Europe with friends and
relatives without Stan. She loved to travel and play mahjong with her
gal pals.
Chris would marry Harvey Quan and Mary
became a devoted grandmother to their twins
Lauren and Greg in 1984. Martin would marry
Clarice Young and Mary would enjoy her third
grandchild Jeremy in 1988.
Mary soldiered through
numerous health issues, a stroke, congestive heart
failure, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and
Parkinson’s. Eventually depression and anxiety
prompted her to get help for her mental health. At
89 personality changes signaled the onset of
dementia. Her many years as a housewife were
over and the long goodbye had begun.
Before Stanley would pass away on December
3, 2019, Mary laid next to him and said “Don’t
leave me.” Mary passed away peacefully in
her sleep on August 22, 2021 at the age of 95.
Joining the many loved ones that have passed
before her. Mary has a lot of catching up to
do.
Mary is survived by brother Gene, sister Marie
and their families, her children Christine and
husband Harvey Quan, Martin and wife Clarice
Young, grandchildren Lauren and husband
Shyam Jayaraman, Gregory and wife Connie,
Jeremy and wife Angelina and great
grandchildren Zoey, Meera and Zion.
Mary’s achievements are the loved one she leaves behind and the
pleasure and love she gave to her host of friends. We gather today to
mourn her loss, but if you were to tell her that, she might say with a
grin “Are you kidding? What loss?”
What’s your fondest memory of Mary?
What’s a lesson you learned from Mary?
Share a story where Mary's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Mary you’ll never forget.
How did Mary make you smile?