White River Junction, Vermont - Joyce C. Chen, 97, died Saturday October 23, 2021, surrounded by her family at The Village at White River Junction.

Born February 20, 1924, in Shanghai, China, Joyce spent most of her childhood in Shanghai and Nanjing surrounded by a large extended family.  She attended St. John's University for college, which was at the time, one of China's most prestigious universities.  After graduating in 1946, Joyce worked for a year to save the money to attend New York University (NYU) for her master's degree.  After a month-long voyage from China in 1947, she did not arrive in time to start NYU's semester, and so she attended the University of Iowa to study English before continuing onto NYU.

In New York City, Joyce lived at the International House with several other Chinese students, which became their home away from home. While in New York, Joyce reunited with a family friend from Shanghai, Peter P.C. Chen, and they were married in 1951. Joyce and Peter settled in Queens, NY, where they began a family before moving to Chatham, NJ for thirteen years, later settling in Livingston, NJ. While in the New York metro area, the Chens were active in various Chinese associations and enjoyed a close-knit community of friends.

During her life, Joyce built a long and impressive career. Before finishing her master's degree in 1953 from NYU, she joined Chubb & Son where she was one of 8 women and 62 men to complete their training program in 1949. She went on to work on their first IBM mainframe computers in 1956 and she retired from Chubb & Son 37 years later in 1986.

After retiring, Joyce arranged through Chubb & Son to return to China for a year to teach computer programming, finally getting the opportunity to reunite with her family in China. Joyce later moved to Hanover, NH in 1995, Ossining, NY in 2010, and has been a resident at The Village since 2019. Throughout her retirement Joyce prioritized family and education, taking care of her 5 granddaughters, attending ILEAD classes at Dartmouth, and seizing every opportunity to learn something new.

She is survived by her daughters Celia Chen (Doug Bolger) of Hartford and Gail Chen (Jim Morris) of Yarmouth Port, MA; five granddaughters, Jane Chen, Maya Bolger-Chen, Kayla Morris, Hannah Morris and Ella Morris as well as a half-brother.  She is predeceased by her husband, two sisters, half-brother, and half sister.

Joyce received much support while first in the United States from the International House in New York City.  Contributions in her memory may be made at: www.ihouse-nyc.org/support-the-house/donate-giving/