Carolyn Chen

Carolyn Chandler Chen, 86, formerly of Cumru Township, passed away on August 20, 2020 at the Highlands of Wyomissing.

Beloved daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, she was the widow of her high school sweetheart, the late Wilson S. Chen—she the salutatorian and he the valedictorian of their graduating class. They were married for 63 years.

The oldest of five children born to the late Ralph and Violet (Knapp) Chandler, Carolyn is survived by siblings Janice Burd (Lamar), Bethlehem; Linda Arms, Reading; Stuart Chandler (Pat), Cobleskill, NY; and Jeffrey Chandler (Cindy), Spanish Fort, AL.

Born in Deposit, NY, Carolyn grew up in Mine Hill, NJ and graduated from Dover High School, where her days of trailblazing and barrier-breaking began. At a time when many women set their sights on marriage instead of career, Carolyn set her sights on both. After managing the bookkeeping at her father’s feed and grain business while a teenager, she graduated from high school at 16 and flew off to Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA where she majored in physics. Upon graduation, she worked performing mathematical calculations for the astronomy department at Haverford College.  In 1956, she married Wilson, an interracial marriage that pushed the boundaries of social norms at the time, and proved to be a legacy of love and commitment which formed a lasting impression on those around them. After marriage, she programmed computers in the mid-1950s, at the very dawn of the computer age, when an entire room was occupied by a computer which performed fewer actions than today’s handheld devices.

Ever kind, sweet and genteel, she was also a quiet feminist who strove to succeed as a professional woman in a man’s world. Despite a job interview where she was asked how she would get her housework done, she became one of the first professional women at AT&T’s Western Electric Reading Works, where she again worked as a computer programmer until her retirement in 1989.

Succeed she did—as a professional, a loving wife and a mother of four: Stuart (Cathy), Eric (Evelyne), Paul (Donna), and Ellen (Kevin Cooper); a grandmother of 10: Andrew (Ashley), Charity (Brandon Holbert), Jordan, Katherine, Madison, Justin, Elizabeth (Spencer Kelly), Gabriel (Helen), Cecilia and Abigail; and a great-grandmother of three: Kohen, Olivia, and Riley.

Carolyn cherished her family above all, from hosting large July 4th and Thanksgiving gatherings at the family homestead, to attending family concerts and graduations, and joining her family in song around the piano. She also enjoyed reading, knitting, crocheting, gardening, attending the symphony and Profettes investment club, and worshipping at First Presbyterian Church (now Park Road Presbyterian) where she was a member serving in various capacities for over 60 years.

Services will be held at Fairview Cemetery in Shillington on Saturday, August 29 at 1:00 p.m. (The graveside service can be watched virtually from the link below) In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Park Road Presbyterian Church, 1045 North Park Road, Wyomissing, PA 19610.

Bean Funeral Home of Shillington is in charge of arrangements; online condolences may be made at www.beanfuneralhomes.com