Marie Shu-Quen Shen

10/03/1930 - 05/14/2024

Marie Shu-Quen Shen (née Lee) passed away on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 in San Diego, California. Marie, the oldest of 8 children, was born October 3, 1930 in Fengtian, the modern day city of Shenyang in China’s Liaoning Province, to Francis and Elizabeth Lee. While they lived in Fengtian, Elizabeth also gave birth to Marie’s brother, Joseph, and sister, Theresa.

In 1936, Francis moved the family back to their home province of Shandong, to the City of Qingdao, where Elizabeth had three more children, John, Peter and Louisa.

In 1949, Marie, four siblings, a cousin and her mother boarded one of the last two ships departing Shanghai as the Kuomintang army retreated to Taiwan. Their ship set sail for Hong Kong, but the Lee family never made it there, as the two ships were caught in a typhoon. While the other ship sank, Marie’s ship was re-routed to Taipei, where her father, who was already there, met them at the port and managed to secure their disembarkation.

While in Taiwan, Marie attended Providence Junior College for Women in the City of Taichung. Upon graduating, Marie worked to support her family, first as a teacher at Providence Junior College, and later in Taipei, as the secretary to the Spanish Ambassador to Taiwan, a position she held for 12 years. Marie’s job supported her family and enabled her brothers and sisters, who were teenagers, to continue their education.

Marie met her future husband, Paul Baou-Jeun Shen at a Catholic bible study in Taipei, where she gave him a bible. Paul was a former naval officer, turned merchant seaman. Smitten by her, Paul was eventually baptized and married Marie on March 28, 1957. Paul and Marie had a son and a daughter in Taiwan, Gregory and Martha.

In 1964, Marie and her family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where their youngest daughter, Josefina, was born and where Marie’s youngest sisters, Elizabeth and Cecilia, grew up. Their months-long journey to Argentina aboard a merchant ship was memorable for the whole family, as they encountered aboriginal people, exotic animals and were even joined by an unforgettable group of elephants for part of the trip.

While in Argentina, Marie worked for the Bank of America. Marie was fluent in Chinese, Spanish, and English. One day, Claire Giannini, the heir of Bank of America’s founder, visited their Buenos Aires branch. She was so impressed with Marie that she offered to transfer Marie to a Bank of America location in any city in the world. Marie chose San Francisco, California.

In 1972, Paul, Marie and their three children moved to San Francisco, where Marie worked as a Finance Officer at Bank of America. At Bank of America, Marie covered the two valleys of Northern California—the Napa Valley and the Silicon Valley. When Marie, who was not a wine aficionado, made her quarterly visits to the Napa Valley, she occasionally brought Paul home a surprise gift - a gallon jug of red wine.

Marie’s visits to the Silicon Valley in the 1970s were quite different. Her clients included the world’s first portable computer company, and she returned with such questions as “What types of applications can a portable computer be used for?”

While raising three children and working full-time, Marie also studied part-time at the University of San Francisco. In 1986, at the age of 56, Marie was awarded a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. That same year, her son, Gregory, completed his undergraduate studies, and mother and son received their diplomas at the same commencement ceremony.

Paul and Marie both retired from Bank of America in the 1990s. After their retirement, Paul and Marie worked hard to support the growth of San Francisco’s Chinese Catholic community. They were particularly active at St. Anne of the Sunset, Holy Name and Star of the Sea Churches. They supported the cloistered Carmelite nuns at Cristo Rey Monastery, and for more than 25 years, they served as dedicated volunteers at Laguna Honda Hospital.

During their retirement years, Marie and Paul returned to China many times and were able to reconnect with many of their relatives and friends from decades ago. Marie was known among family and friends for her cooking, and her recipes for homemade spring rolls, dumplings, pot stickers, scallion pancakes and mango bread have been incorporated into the family’s culinary repertoire.

In 2015, Marie moved to San Diego to live with Gregory, her son, and his family, where she was able to enjoy watching her grandchildren grow up.

Marie Shen is survived by her three children, Gregory, Martha and Josefina, and 15 grandchildren, Andrew Shen, Elizabeth Shen, Gerard Shen, Timothy Shen, Mary Clare Shen, Katherine Shen, John Shen, Christina Shen, Nicole Leung, Michael Leung, Arnold Urquidez III, Armaund Urquidez, Paloma Urquidez, Alan Urquidez, and Michael Zhang. Marie is also survived by her sisters, Louisa Hu, Elizabeth Wong, and Cecilia Hiraoka.

Marie’s funeral Mass will be held at Saint Anne of the Sunset Catholic Church, 850 Judah Street, San Francisco, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. It will be followed by her burial, at Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Mission Road, Colma, Holy Family Section, Row 33 at 11:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Marie Shen’s honor to the Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey at 721 Parker Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94118-4297 via check or Zelle (to vocations@ cmcrnuns.org).