Nell Guey-Meei Hung Wu

Nell Guey-Meei Hung Wu was born on June 11, 1935, in Taipei, Taiwan, the third of seven children of Si-Lang Ling Hung and Yuen-Huo Hung. Her father was a general surgeon in Taipei and her mother raised the children and helped run the medical practice. The children were taught the old virtues of hard work, always doing your best, being thrifty, and being kind to others. Since each child learned to play the piano, the sounds of Chopin and Mozart filled the household. On the weekends, her father would take the kids to the park and buy ice cream for everyone.

Nell grew up during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan during World War II. She attended a Japanese elementary school and was elected class president (beforehand there had been a rule against Taiwanese students being class president but she broke that barrier through her hard work and friendly personality). After the war, the Japanese left Taiwan and all schooling converted to Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese. Not only was she able to learn all her subjects in 2 new languages, but due to her high grades in High School, she was accepted into the prestigious National Taiwan University without having to take the entrance exam, an honor given to only 1 out of 100 students. Nell studied Pharmacology for 4 years, graduated, then worked as a teaching assistant in Biochemistry for 1 year.

In 1960, Nell left her dear family and bravely moved to the United States. At the time, oral and written tests were required to qualify for a student visa in the United States. Nell studied at Columbia University School of Pharmacy for her Master’s degree. Nell had to adjust to being so far from home, living in New York City, and taking a heavy course load in another language, English. She was very homesick!

In 1962, Nell met a brilliant electrical engineer named Yung-Kuang Wu, a Ph.D. Student at the University of Michigan at Christmas time in New York City. Nell was impressed with Yung’s love of music and his fantastic singing voice. They were married in Boston in 1963 at the Harvard Chapel.

They settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1966, their daughter Melissa was born. In 1967, their son, Theodore was born. Although she was trained as a pharmacist, Nell prioritized raising her 2 children properly. She was very proud of Melissa and Theodore, who both became medical doctors.

After living in New Bedford, Nell and the family moved to Lexington, Massachusetts, then Annandale, Virginia. After her husband’s passing, she spent the last two years living in Richmond, Virginia.

Nell was fond of singing, dancing, playing the piano, traveling abroad, and meeting new people. She had exceptional energy and grace, and loved bringing people together, especially over a home-cooked meal. Nell had an extraordinary gift for languages– aside from Taiwanese, Japanese, Mandarin, and English, she spoke and sang in French, Italian, German, and Russian.

Nell is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Yung-Kuang; her sister, Amy; and her nieces, Ellen and Karen; and is survived by her daughter, Melissa Wu; son-in-law, Tyler Brannen; son, Theodore Wu; daughter-in-law, Deborah Koehn; and 2 grand-daughters, Maya Koehn-Wu and Natalie Koehn-Wu. She is also survived by her siblings, Clara, John, Peter, Judy, and Ike.

A private celebration of life will be held with the family. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Richmond Alzheimer’s Association or the American Cancer Society. For condolences, see www.blileys.com.