Zhiqiang Fu

Growing up in the poor and humble countryside of Liao Yang, Zhiqiang spent most of his youth taking care of his younger brother Zhicheng. His family struggled financially, with his parents gone for work for weeks at a time. Not having the resources to put food consistently on the table for many years, he often had to scavenge for food around the village for him and his brother. Despite these hardships, with the end of the Cultural Revolution and with the return of high school standardized testing, Zhiqiang placed into the best high school in the city where he met Liyang, his future wife. After graduating, Zhiqiang and Liyang both went off to college in the provincial capital city of Shen Yang where Zhiqiang studied metallurgy engineering and Liyang studied medicine. They married in 1987 and their son, Song, was born two years later in 1989.

For the ensuing decade, despite spending months to years at a time alone, Zhiqiang would travel back and forth between China and the U.S. in hopes of finding a footing for his family in the country of more opportunities. Although he was a highly sought after engineer in China, he had to rebuild his career in America from the ground up working through odd jobs in the Chinese restaurant industry and eventually finding a home in computer science. After receiving his green card in 1998, Zhiqiang was finally reunited with Liyang and Song in the U.S.

Zhiqiang was known for being hardworking, tenacious, kind-hearted, and doting. When he set out to do something, he would toil away at it obsessively until he did it better than everyone else. When he met up with friends, he would bring smiles to everyone's faces with his wit and humor. When he received any gifts or accolades, he would always prioritize sharing with his family and loved ones first. He enjoyed going on regular hikes and mushroom picking with his wife, tinkering and showing off his ever-expanding antiques collection to his uninterested son, working on the yard with his mother-in-law, and piling upexorbitant amounts of food on his daughter-in-law's plate. Zhiqiang will be forever remembered for his unselfishness and his constant practice of placing others' needs ahead of his own.

Zhiqiang is deeply loved and survived by his wife-Liyang Xu, son-Song Fu, mother-in-law Suzhen Du, daughter-in-law Kyujoo Choi, his two brothers- Zhicheng Fu and Bin Tian, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and extended family.

The funeral visitation and viewing will be held at DeVol Funeral Home, 10 East Deer Park Dr., Gaithersburg, MD on Saturday, December 17, 2022 from 10:00am-12:00pm.

Flowers will be provided for those who wish to offer their condolences by placing one on the casket.