Mrs. Siew Kim Lim Tan

Mum was born in Medan, Indonesia, the second eldest child of 6 children. At the age of 15, Mum passed the international exams to receive The University of Cambridge ‘O’ Level Certificate, issued from England. This was a significant achievement as she became the first female student in Medan to receive this Certificate while studying on her own. She then became a teacher to help with the household expenses and to support her younger siblings through school.

On December 25, 1951, Mum married Dad in Medan, after a courtship of 2+ years. She became a full-time homemaker, when the 5 of us were born within a span of 6 ½ years. She devoted her entire life to our well-being, even helping us to take care of our children.

For 56½ years, Mum proved to be a very supportive wife, following Dad wherever he went…from Medan to Singapore to Taipei and finally, settling down in Houston upon his retirement.

She was a loving mother / grandmother / great-grandmother / friend. To family and friends, Mum was kind, gracious, easy going, warm, friendly, gentle, without a temper, independent, a lady-like demeanor, polite, caring, and full of wisdom.

Mum’s faith in our Lord Jesus Christ persevered to the very end as she recorded in her diary this year of her loving caring God in whom she had found His love, compassion, patience, and peace of mind. She also wrote of being filled with gratefulness, happiness, and fulfillment.

Mum independently cared for herself until she contracted pneumonia in February 2021. Since then, Mum had a series of mini-strokes that slowly affected her mobility, speech, cognition, and finally her ability to swallow. She went home peacefully to be with our Lord at 5:00 A.M. Central Time on June 20, 2021.

We have been blessed by God for giving us such a wonderful Mother. We know that she is now with God and our Dad. One day, we will be reconciled with them!