Princeton University librarian Effie Chen dies at 90

Princeton resident Effie Y.H. Chen passed away peacefully on Feb. 20, with her family by her side. She was born in Chiaohsi, Taiwan, in 1935 and was one of eight siblings.

Effie attended Shi Da University in Taipei and briefly taught middle school there after graduating. While teaching, she met her husband, James Chen. Sharing a dream of pursuing graduate studies in the United States, the couple became engaged shortly before James left to begin his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1958, Effie moved from Taiwan to Philadelphia to attend Drexel University, where she earned two master’s degrees, one in Nutrition and another in Library Science. Effie and James married in 1959, and during the early years of their marriage, she completed her graduate studies while James finished his doctorate.

Effie had been a resident of Princeton since the late 1960s. She worked for more than 25 years at Princeton University as a librarian in both the Gest Collection and Firestone Library. In retirement, she found joy in travel, gardening, and especially in becoming a grandmother. Multilingual throughout her life, Effie moved easily among Taiwanese, Japanese, and Mandarin, often within a single conversation, and later in life, she even dabbled in German and French.

Effie expressed her love through food and cooking, and her dumpling nights with her grandchildren will be forever cherished. Despite distance and the passage of time, she maintained deep lifelong ties with siblings, nieces, nephews, and childhood friends in Taiwan, while continuing to form new friendships in the Princeton community into her 90s.

Effie will be deeply missed by her family. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Audrey Chen, Bernice Chen (Scott Alcott), and Clarice Chen (Brian Edgecombe); her grandchildren, Gavin Alcott, Zoe Alcott, Avery Peterson, Seamus Edgecombe, and Quinn Edgecombe; her sisters, Shizu Chen and Getusubai Ju; her brother and sister-in-law, Jeff and Yoko Chen; and many other in-laws, nieces, and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband of 44 years, James Chen; her eldest grandson, Jeremy Peterson; her sisters Ann Hsu, Bi Lan, and Su Lan; and her brothers Keiyu Chuang and Shigai Chuang.

The family is planning a celebration of Effie’s life to be held in the spring or summer. In lieu of flowers, donations in Effie’s memory may be made to https://penndentalmedicine.org/give/. Memorial notifications may be sent to the family at effiegekka@hotmail.com.