After a difficult battle with cancer, Wen-Jian Han (韩文健), 87, passed away on March 1, 2020 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. He was born in Shanyang (山阳), Shaanxi, China in March 1933. In 1950, he received two medals for his good work and his service as a courier. Wen-Jian studied geology at Northwest University in Xi’an where he met his wife Ju-Fen Guan (官举芬). After graduation, they worked for the Sichuan Petroleum Institute and were married in 1958. They surveyed remote mountain areas for seven months each year from 1956 to 1973. Wen-Jian’s team explored 100 counties in three provinces of China. They discovered an 18-foot dinosaur skeleton, which later was exhibited in a museum.

Later, Wen-Jian served as the assistant director of the institute and became chairman of his labor union. He listened to complaints from workers and helped advise them, and later, served as a consultant. At home, he woke up early from Monday to Saturday and prepared breakfast for his family but liked to sleep late on Sundays until almost noon. In their retirement, Wen-Jian and Ju-Fen visited friends and family. They visited their daughter’s families in the USA and helped watch their grandchildren, and then returned to Chengdu for time with their son and friends in China.

Wen-Jian enjoyed watching Beijing Opera, reading newspapers, stamp collecting, and taking neighborhood walks. While in the U.S.A., he and his wife enjoyed visiting playgrounds and parks with their grandchildren including the Melrose Common, Pine Banks Park, and Breakheart Reservation in Massachusetts, and family trips to Acadia National Park in Maine, Niagara Falls in New York, and Newfound Lake in Bristol, New Hampshire to visit their daughter Yi’s family at Cheerful Garden Chinese Restaurant, recently renovated and reopened by new owners as the Very Excellent Chinese Restaurant [https://www.facebook.com/very… ].

Wen-Jian was predeceased by his father Yan-Jian Han (韩原江) and his mother Zheng (郑氏), brother Wen-Su (韩文述) and sister Wen-Xiu (韩文秀) of China. He is survived by his wife Ju-Fen Guan and son Jie Han of Chengdu, China; son Jie Han of Chengdu; daughter Ying and son-in-law Anthony Brach of Melrose, MA, grandsons Jonathan of Batavia, NY, Richard of Burlington, VT, and Joseph of Melrose; daughter Yi and son-in-law Chih-Hua Pao, grandchildren Jay and Jasia of Duluth, Georgia, and nephews and nieces in China and the U.K.

Visitation and interment in China private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Wen-Jian’s name may be made to Catholic Relief Services [ https://www.crs.org/our-work-… ], St. Mary of the Annunciation Church in Melrose [ http://stmarysmelrose.org/ ], the International Committee of the Red Cross [ https://www.icrc.org/en/where… ] or your favorite charity.