Chen, Di
Passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 14, 2018 at his home in Mound, MN at the age of 89 years. He was a very caring father, brother, grandfather and husband, as well as an accomplished engineer and entrepreneur. Survived by his wife of 60 years, Lynn; brothers, Frank and Tom; sister, Mingjen; sons, Andy and Daniel; daughters-in-law, Chris and Cornelia; grandsons, Joshua, Caleb, Anthony and Benjamin. Di was born in Zhejiang, China, arriving in Minnesota in 1954 after surviving WWII and the Chinese Civil War. He received his MS degree from the University of Minnesota and PhD from Stanford University, both in Electrical Engineering. After teaching at the University of Minnesota, Di joined Honeywell where he was a research fellow and an IEEE fellow. In the mid-1980s he joined OPI in Colorado, a Honeywell-Phillips joint venture and later was co-founder of Optotech, an optical recording company. Di had deep roots in Minnesota and was the first President of the Chinese American Association of Minnesota in 1965; after many years out West, he returned to the Twin Cities to retire in 1998. In his spare time, Di enjoyed his lake home with his loving wife, taking photographs, fishing and driving the waterski boat for his sons and grandsons on Harrison’s Bay, and going out to eat with friends. Memorial service 11 AM Saturday, October 20 at Huber Funeral Home, 16394 Glory Lane, Eden Prairie, with visitation starting at 1 0 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the charity of your choice in honor of Di.
Huber Funeral & Cremation Services
Eden Prairie Chapel 952-949-4970
www.huberfunerals.com