James S. Louie, 97, research scientist, WWII tail gunner
While James S. Louie was flying missions as a B24 tail gunner over Japanese troops in China during World War II, his wife was fatally injured in a fall at their Philadelphia home.
While James S. Louie was flying missions as a B24 tail gunner over Japanese troops in China during World War II, his wife was fatally injured in a fall at their Philadelphia home.
But, stepdaughter Mary Chen said, "he was deployed; there was no way of telling him" about the death of his wife, Marie Louise.
And so, Chen said, a charitable organization arranged for the care of their son, David, until Mr. Louie could complete his military obligation.
"It was a chaotic time," Chen said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 11, Mr. Louie, 97, of Voorhees, a research scientist at the former Franklin Institute Research Laboratories, died at home.
Born in what is now the Chinese province of Guangdong, Mr. Louie's family moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1928 and to Philadelphia in 1929.
During World War II, he was assigned to the 14th Air Force, established in March 1943 and known as the Flying Tigers, the name of the volunteer arm of the Chinese Air Force that was disbanded in July 1942.
Stationed in China in 1945, his stepdaughter said, his bomber was among those whose last mission, to bomb targets in Japan, was called off on the day that the first atomic bomb hit Hiroshima.
"It was an intense moment" as the crews prepared, Mary Chen said. "Everybody was ready to go."
When Mr. Louie returned to his Philadelphia home, she said, his life was no easier.
"He spent five years trying to get his bachelor's, while working a full-time job, as a server in a restaurant in Philadelphia," she said.
But he did earn his associate's degree in electrical engineering at Temple University.
With his second wife, Lillian, Mr. Louie was able to take his oldest son back into his family.
And from 1950 to 1975, he spent his first career with the Franklin Laboratories and, apart from being on a Franklin team researching the first computers, Chen said, he worked on more visible efforts.
"He helped design the big heart" that was a prime attraction for schoolchildren at the Franklin Institute and "he helped repair the Liberty Bell."
When he was in his 50s, she said, he earned a bachelor's in accounting at Rutgers Camden in 1973.
And after he retired from Franklin, she said, he was an assistant professor in electrical engineering at Villanova University, from 1975 to 1988.
Mr. Louie was a member of the Maple Shade Board of Education from 1973 to 1975 and a member of the Lions Club there from 1970 to 1975.
Before his Air Force career, Chen said, in 1941 Mr. Louie was among the founders of Holy Redeemer Church in Philadelphia's Chinatown.
Besides his stepdaughter, Mr. Louie is survived by his third wife, Ruby; sons David, Richard, and Ron; daughters Jeanne Cody and Nancy Louie; five grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. He was predeceased by wives Lillian and Marie Louise Louie.
A viewing was set from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Holy Redeemer Church, 915 Vine St., Philadelphia 19107, before an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass there, with interment in Cathedral Cemetery, 1032 N. 48th St., Philadelphia.
Donations may be sent to the church at the above address.
Condolences may be offered to the family at bradleyfuneralhome-marlton.com.
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