Wu-Ching Pan

Wu-Ching Pan was born in Shanghai, China, on February 23, 1933, to Pei-Ming Pan and Yen-Xi Zhu. To celebrate the birth of his first son, Pei-Ming gifted 100 red eggs to the hospital. He named the baby “Wu-Ching,” which means “No Competition.” Pei-Ming was a Tokyo-trained lawyer who eventually served as lieutenant governor of Hubei and Henan Provinces. Wu-Ching had two older sisters (Qiong-Ming and Jun-Jue), four younger sisters (Zhi-Yu, Ai-Zhong, Mao-Xi, and Zhuang-Wei), and a younger brother (Wu-Ran).

When the Communist Party took over China in 1949, Wu-Ching’s parents fled to Taiwan with him and his brother, settling in the city of Taichung. Wu-Ching excelled in high school, attended two years of military college, and then transferred to National Taiwan University. He majored in business administration, and was elected class president for multiple terms. In his second year, he started dating his classmate, Dan-Ling Lo (Felicia). He pursued her persistently, and she liked his good looks, charisma, and kind heart. She would become his wife of 62 years.

In 1961, Wu-Ching received a Sun Yat-Sen Scholarship for graduate studies in the United States. Wu-Ching and Felicia married in 1962 at Riverside Church in Manhattan. He earned a masters degree in business administration from New York University, and started coursework for a Ph.D. Felicia studied accounting at City College while working as a clerk at an import-export company. Upon graduation from NYU, Wu-Ching got a job in the finance division of Random House, the publishing company, where he rose to the position of finance director. Felicia started a career at the United Nations, first as a clerk and then as a statistician, eventually becoming a supervisor in the division that publishes the U.N.’s “Statistical Yearbook” and “Statistical Monthly Bulletin.”

The couple first lived in Queens, where their daughter Gloria I Pan was born in 1964. A second daughter, Florence Yu Pan, followed in 1966. In 1968, the family moved to Englewood, New Jersey. Wu-Ching soon brought his widowed mother, Yen-Xi, from Taiwan to live with them and to help care for the children. In 1974, the whole family moved to Tenafly, New Jersey. The girls attended public schools in Tenafly. Gloria went on to graduate from Barnard College of Columbia University, and earned a masters degree in political economy and development economics from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. Florence attended the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Law School.

Wu-Ching had an entrepreneurial spirit and left Random House around 1980 to start his own business facilitating trade with the emerging Chinese market. Felicia retired from the U.N. in 1997. At that point, Wu-Ching and Felicia downsized and moved first to a condo in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, and then to retirement communities in Leesburg, Virginia (Leisureworld) and Gaithersburg, Maryland (Asbury Methodist Village). They enjoyed decades of travel, time with friends, and being grandparents. They spent significant time in China, where they owned homes in Hangzhou and Shanghai, and reconnected with Wu-Ching’s sisters and brother.

Gloria and her husband, John Neuffer, had two children — Cole Pan Yenxi Neuffer in 1994, and Jake Pan Peiming Neuffer in 2001. Florence and her husband, Max Stier, also had two children — Zachary Stier Pan in 2004, and Noah Pan Stier in 2006. The grandchildren all enjoyed several vacations with Wu-Ching and Felicia in China, and had numerous adventures when their grandparents babysat.

Wu-Ching was an activist who cared deeply about others. He was a member of the CCH fraternity (a community of service-oriented Chinese immigrants); brought his young family to march in demonstrations in support of the Vietnamese boat people; and fundraised for the United Way, going door-to-door to collect change from neighbors. He expressed his American patriotism by refusing to buy any appliances, electronics, or vehicles not made in the USA. In his later years, when he was frail, he made his own “Black Lives Matter” sign to hold up at the window in support of demonstrators marching past his retirement community. He was sociable and gregarious. He had a wide circle of friends with whom he loved to play mahjong and sing Chinese opera. He was an accomplished cook and enjoyed entertaining — he hosted countless dinner parties and frequented every Chinese restaurant within a one-hour radius of wherever he was living. He was a self-taught player of the harmonica and the Chinese wooden flute, and he sang and danced with gusto. Indeed, he sang in his sleep every night.

Family was everything to Wu-Ching. He helped many family members emigrate to the United States and supported them as they embarked on their new lives here. He cared for his nieces (Sherry Wang, Pearl Wang, Debbie Wen, and Wei-Ming Bao) like they were his own daughters. He delighted in the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren, and doted on his wife.

Wu-Ching will be lovingly remembered for his great kindness, his zest for life, and his devotion to family and friends.

Wu-Ching’s family members are very grateful for all the kind words and support from friends and loved ones. In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring Wu-Ching’s dedication to helping others by making a donation in his memory to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund , <a href="//nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.advancingjustice-aajc.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cstephen%40pumphreyfh.com%7C67195a8fc9c1446ab11e08dd3f9e90f1%7C4735a69690a0494e96cc26cd30f3fd71%7C0%7C0%7C638736672493519757%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5oKljPqf5sORPpnXhTELZ0yMherHlpt8%2Fwt%2B%2BQ%2F4r%2Fc%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Asian Americans Advancing Justice , or another organization that supports the APA community.

Wu-Ching Pan

February 23, 1933 - January 22, 2025

Brought to you by Robert A Pumphrey Funeral Homes

Wu-Ching Pan

Rockville, Maryland

February 23, 1933 - January 22, 2025

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