Cindy Chan

Cindy Chan (born Ming-Gen Jean) left this world unexpectedly on June 14th, 2021 at the age of 70, with her family by her side. She leaves behind her husband Woon Chan, three daughters – Angeline (Francois) Chan-Kosie, Joyce (Greg) Beal, and Melissa Chan (Sam Jutila), and four granddaughters – Juliana Kosie, Colette Kosie, Tessa Beal, and McKinley Beal. She also leaves behind four sisters and a brother – Jean (Carl) Chen, Ming-Chu Jean (Ching-Long Chang), YiKuei Jane Hou, Shuing Jean Ying in CA, Chalin (Kay Wu) Jean, two sisters-in law of Hong Kong, along with many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents Gen-Ten Jean (father) and Chi-Fun Huang (mother) and brothers-in-law, Ming Kang Hou and Levi C Ying, and two brothers-in-law of China.

Cindy was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan where she earned a nursing degree from Taiwan Provincial Junior College of Nursing in 1974. After teaching there for 3 years, she fulfilled a childhood pact with her girlfriends to move to the United States and find husbands there. She had a few suitors when she lived in Athens, Georgia, but only allowed one to see her: a young Hong Kongese gentleman named Woon Chan who taught himself Mandarin to better communicate with her and drove 12 hours on the weekend to cook for her – all while learning English and working on his Ph. D. They wed in 1977 and remained married for 43.5 years until her death.

Cindy was predisposed to work hard. When her children were young, she would braid her daughters' hair and send them off to school in neat dresses, stockings, squeaky shoes and barrettes before starting her own workday as a home health nurse with Bellin Home Health Agency. Later, she managed a restaurant full time while working as a hospice nurse part time with Heartland Hospice. In 2003 Carol and Robert Bush presented Cindy with the Excellence in Nursing Award. In total she served as a nurse for 32 years before retiring in 2009.

She went above and beyond helping people not just in her profession but also in everyday life, such as running across the street in the rain to fix the umbrella of someone in a wheelchair and then resume driving. It was completely normal to go to a store with Cindy and end up waiting 15 minutes while she chatted with people who recognized her from the restaurant or who wanted to give heartfelt thanks for nursing one of their family members.

Above all, Cindy fiercely provided for her children and grandchildren. To visit Cindy meant going home with boxes of food that fed you for a week. She was always by their side in times of need, no matter how tired or far away she was. She frequently drove (non-stop) across the country to visit them and give her daughters respite, holding Juliana for hours so she could sleep despite her arms getting tired or spending nights feeding Tessa every hour after she was born prematurely. She lit up at any mention of her granddaughters and absolutely adored spending time with them.

Her sudden death from a heart attack has left many in shock. Her bubbly energy, playful sense of humor, and sing-songy voice will be deeply missed. The family would like to thank the staff at Bellin Hospital for doing everything in their power to save Cindy as well as the following people for their close friendship and exceptional support: Der-Hua Lin and family, YiKuei Jane Hou, Cheryl Lundberg and family, and nieces and nephew Alan and Shirley Chow, Lenis Chen-Edinboro, Tiffany Chen, Emily Hou, and Edward Ying.

All are welcome to Cindy's funeral and visitation which will be held at Newcomer Green Bay Chapel (340 S. Monroe Ave. Green Bay, WI) on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 from 4 pm to 6:30 pm. A prayer service will follow at 6:30 pm. To leave an online condolence please click the share button below.