SOPHIE LIN RYDIN, PH.D.
1950-2020
Sophie Lin Rydin took her final breath on July 28, 2020 after a 2 year battle with cancer. She passed peacefully at home with family by her side in Houston, Texas. Sophie was born August 22, 1950, in Taipei, Taiwan to George and Shirley Lin. She moved to the United States in 1976 and worked her way through graduate school waiting tables. She completed her Master’s of Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University in 1978 and worked in the field to change the lives of patients and others for over 40 years.
In 1984, Sophie met her husband Mike Rydin through a dating service that Mike started. They married less than a year after meeting and have two beautiful sons, John and Eric Rydin. Over the years Sophie worked tirelessly to provide a wonderful and fulfilling life for her husband and two children while managing to thrive in two separate careers as a professor of Occupational Therapy at TWU and UTMB, as well as the Vice President of her husband’s company, HCSS, elevating them to one of ‘The Best Places to Work in Texas’ for over ten consecutive years. In 2007, Sophie earned her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy and from the classroom would spread her vast knowledge and experience to her many students and consequently affect an even wider range of patients, keeping her kindness and warmth alive for generations to follow.
Her work in both fields was continuously recognized, including being awarded The Excellence and Dedication to Community Support by the Chinese Community Center in 2007, HDSA Distinguished Leadership in Business and Community in 2009, TOTA Distinguished Service Award in 2008, 2012 and Roster of Merit 2014. She was an avid painter, runner, and even started to play the piano at the age of 63, performing in the Houston Piano Club for several years and then starting the HCSS Company Piano Club.
Sophie was preceded in death by brother Yao Chai and father George Lin. She is survived by mother Shirley, brothers Tom and York, sisters May and Jean, as well as her husband Mike and their two sons, John and Eric along with their fiancées, Nicoletta and Manon. There will be a public memorial service held at the HCSS Campus in Sugar Land, Texas in September.