Rev. John Fu, a Catholic priest who founded Chinese Friendship House in Chicago where he ministered to expatriate Chinese students for nearly 30 years, died on his 99th birthday Monday, Feb. 11 at Divine Word Residence, a home for missionaries in Techny, Ill.
The cause of death was heart failure, his brother, John E. Fu, said.
Father Fu was born in China and named Fu Kaipung. He began seminary training at age 12. He saw his family only once in the next 10 years, when his mother died.
After ordination in 1930, Father Fu earned a doctorate in canon law from Gregorian University in Rome. When he returned to China in 1934 he began work at Fu Jen Catholic University, which was in Beijing. Beginning in 1935, he was a logic and ethics professor as well as dean of students for 13 years.
Much of his life was shaped by the turmoil in China under Japanese occupation during World War II. Father Fu was arrested twice during the war for assisting Chinese students and professors, his brother said, including a monthlong imprisonment in a cell where he was tortured. The beatings injured his spine, causing him to walk with a limp, his brother said.
In 1948 Father Fu was sent by his superiors to the United States to study sociology. Later, he was a parish priest at Our Lady of Grace Church in Chicago.
He founded Chinese Friendship House on West Fullerton Avenue. Hundreds of Chinese students who lived and fellowshipped there benefited from his welcoming, said Kathleen Morgan, communications coordinator for the Society of the Divine Word in Techny.
Visitation will be held at 7:15 p.m. Thursday. Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Friday in Church of the Holy Spirit at Divine Word International, 2001 Waukegan Rd., Techny.
