Lawrence S. Chien

With profound sadness, the family of Lawrence S. Chien announces his passing on March 24, 2026, only 17 days before he would have been 86. Known to friends and family as “Larry,” he was born in Tainan, Taiwan, and moved to the United States shortly after marrying the love of his life, Hannah. After earning his graduate degree at Kansas State University and briefly living in various places across the country (including Chicago, New York and San Francisco), he became a long-time resident of California.

Larry and Hannah settled in Danville with their young family in 1977. Larry was an advocate of fitness and enjoyed judo competitions and hiked the many trails in the Bay Area until he no longer could. He also admired classic cars and was very talented mechanically. He had worked as a jet mechanic for several years in Thailand after college and later worked on many projects for the United States government and private contracts, including projects at Lawrence Livermore Lab and as a structural engineer for the U.S. Army specializing in earthquake safety.

With his hard-working mindset and never-ending vision to build and design high quality structures and buildings, Larry received accolades for his determination and perseverance, including recognition for “Fifteen Years of Service” from the U.S. Army in 2000. He published two books, “Advanced Engineering Dynamics” and “HVAC and Piping.” Even after retirement, Larry continued to work on and imagine land projects well into his late 70’s. His last dream and unfinished project was to build a multi-story building on land he had purchased. He will always be remembered for enthusiastically saying, “Come with me to see the 20 acres.”

Larry is survived by his wife Hannah, their children Sherri (husband Daniel), Joseph (wife Bernadette) and Lorraine (husband Aaron), and grandchildren Azrael, Riley, Henry and Benjamin.

We will miss Larry dearly. His memory will live on in the hearts of all those who knew him.