Growing Older and Wiser in Brookline

February 25, 2025

by: Miriam Rosalyn Diamond

– Susan Fung was born in post-World War II China. One of her earliest memories involves travelling with her mother to visit her father in the Cantonese region where he was studying. She recalls sitting on his bicycle as he walked it through the countryside, her parents engaged in conversation. Susan’s grandmother had fled to (British) Hong Kong to escape Communism. Because Susan’s father was an ardent Communist (“He believed it was the only way to save China”), her mother was unable to emigrate. So they divorced. Subsequently, 3-year-old Susan and mother moved via train to Hong Kong to reunite with family. Susan attended school there. “I was exposed to two beautiful languages growing up: Chinese and English.” America’s immigration laws relaxed after Susan completed high school. The women relocated to Boston to live with her uncles. Her mother became a seamstress while Susan focused on college. UMass Boston tuition was only $100. Susan funded her education through a secretarial job. “I was very happy because I was self-supporting, I was independent, and I was not a burden….” She studied Psychology, Philosophy, Math, and Art. “I wanted to be a professional
student.” While volunteering to teach English in Chinatown, Susan met Public School teacher Michael
Fung. The walk from college to Chinatown was unsafe for a woman alone. Michael would find Susan under her favorite tree in the Boston Public Garden or in the Boston Public Library Reading Room and accompany her to meetings. Romance ensued and they married in 1972. Boston’s educational desegregation initiative was enacted when the youngest of their four children began kindergarten. Susan joined the Racial Ethnic Parents Council and represented the Asian community on a citywide team monitoring integration. She eventually became an educator herself. As their parents aged, Michael and Susan bought a Brookline condominium so the family could easily access local hospitals. Susan’s introduction to the Brookline Senior Center occurred through craft fairs she attended to support her aunt Clare Young, a volunteer who sold hand-knitted items. Recently, Susan’s son, mother, and husband died within the same year. Social Worker Maryam Hassoon visited Susan and encouraged her to utilize Senior Center resources for consolation. Susan joined Grieving Support and Solo Aging groups, becoming inspired by participant Rhoada Wald (profiled in the October 2024 Brookline Beacon). “I started to appreciate her wisdom.” She values the Center. “Somehow I feel at home here.” Susan spent the COVID-19 shutdown doing Chinese calligraphy and painting. “Bamboo is my favorite.” She always carries a little notebook to jot “my own experience” in English and Chinese whenever she gets inspired.

Regarding the future, Susan states “I am hoping to see one day there’s no war, no suffering.”

Please send author Miriam Rosalyn Diamond, mdiamond@brooklinema.gov, nominations of
local seniors to be profiled in future articles