Obituary of John Chow

John was born in San Francisco He leaves behind Emily, his wife of 60 years, sons James and Kenneth Chow, his siblings Ray Chow, Janet Lumhoy and Sister Theresa Chow OSF. His siblings lived in Hawaii with relatives when their mother died in route to Hawaii. They did not met again until they were adults. . John grew up in San Mateo, raised by retired missionaries Elmer and Caroline Jones. There was at one time 8 or more boys living there. He was known as a "Jones Boy". Like all boys he was restless and wanted to get into the military but he was under age.. He ran away from home with 2 other boys. Hitched their way to Arizona taking odd jobs a long the way. He joined the Merchant Marines at age 15. Traveled around the world several times. When the Korean conflict started he was drafted into the 4th Infantry. He took advantage of the GI bill to go to college, sailed part time and raised a family. He graduated from Cal Poly, Pomona with a Bachelors in electronic engineering, Masters (industrial management) from San Jose State University. While working as an engineer, he worked on many space and defense projects, including supervising the Atlas rocket booster testing facility, which launched the Apollo missions to the moon. When space research slowed down, he went back to his love of the seas and became a Merchant Marine radio officer. He sailed on over 100 ships, and served in 4 of our nation's wars, the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars… and the Great War, at a time when Merchant Marines had the highest casualty rate of all branches of military service, while maintaining supply lines vital to ultimate success of the World War II. John accomplished many things although the odds were against him. He was determined and successful in everything he set his mind. JOHN WAS A HAPPY PERSON NO MATTER WHERE HE WAS!