Tribute

Chin Yu was born in the small town of Nan Xun, Zhejiang Province on March 1, 1935. By the time he was a toddler, Japan had invaded China. Chin Yu's parents retreated to Chungking to their workplaces and he was left behind to be cared for by his grandparents. He reunited with his family briefly, only to be separated again by war between the Nationalists and Communists. In his teens and early 20s, he developed a love for singing and literature. However on January 29, 1959, at the age of 23, Chin Yu was branded an anti-revolutionary by the Communist government and placed into Cui Jiao Go Coal Mine from 1957 to 1980 in the mountains of Shaanxi Province. The twenty-one years in the concentration camp were filled with unimaginable hardships where he was often starved.  

Upon emancipation in 1980, Chin Yu worked at a local school in Xi'an and met his wife through family friends. Chin Yu and Hsi Yun Ma married in 1982 and welcomed their first child later that year. After immigrating to the United States with his family in November of 1987, Chin Yu’s mother shared the Gospel and he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. He found work as a forklift driver in a ketchup manufacturing facility in Southern California. A year later, after hearing about job opportunities in San Francisco, Chin Yu moved his family to a city without any known friends or relatives, where he did the graveyard shift at Bakers of Paris in Daly City and his wife worked in a sewing factory in SF Mission District. 

In 1991, Chin Yu and Hsi Yun welcomed their second child and it was around then that Chin Yu was put on permanent disability from a heart condition that rendered him unable to work. He dedicated his entire life to caring for his children and caring for the home while his wife worked long hours to support the family. He made sure everyone ate well, slept enough, and he did all the household chores. He always made at least eight dishes for dinner, followed by an orange afterwards, and daily walks around the Sunset neighborhood. 

Chin Yu loved to sing in his booming voice, and also had a gift for writing Chinese calligraphy. He gifted many framed calligraphy verses to his church, and loved taking prolific sermon notes at SF Mandarin Baptist Church. In 2000, he received catheter surgery to help his heart function normally. 

After his daughter left for college in 2001, Chin Yu moved into San Francisco’s North Point district for the next 19 years while attending SF True Light Baptist Church. His children visited him often and loved taking him to Chinatown for meals. In 2009, the same year his daughter was saved, Chin Yu’s life took a turn for the best. He began saturating his mind with Scripture and could not get enough of God’s Word. His life became one continual prayer, often on his knees. He prayed for his family, his church, and his friends. 

At the age of 79, he completed his autobiography detailing his life from birth until he was emancipated from the concentration camp in China. This book became internationally published through a well-known Chinese magazine as a ten-part series, and later became a standalone book in Chinese. All proceeds from sales went to an orphanage in Taiwan. His vivid descriptions of places, names, sights, sounds, and details from the Cultural Revolution made the book come to life and painted the picture of God’s providence in his life. 

By October of 2021, he fell ill to Parkinson's and dementia, and spent the past year and a half at Bellaken Skilled Nursing & Long Term Care in Oakland. After a full week of his wife and children and granddaughter by his side feeding him homemade beef bone broth, Chin Yu passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of his 88th birthday, on March 1, 2023.