Hanlin Duan Liu

*In Loving Memory of Hanlin Duan Liu (1938–2026)*

Hanlin Duan Liu was born on 26 November 1938 in Yantai, Shandong Province, China. She was born during the turbulent years of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Before the war broke out, her father, Ruishan Duan, owned a business dealing in cables and radio equipment. A patriotic nationalist, he chose to join the anti-Japanese resistance after the outbreak of war. In 1941, he relocated his business to Laiyang, then a center of wartime resistance in Shandong, and brought three-year-old Hanlin with him. From 1941 until the end of the war years in 1948, Hanlin and her mother lived alongside military families, spending their days constantly on the move. It was a childhood often described as life in a “cradle on horseback.” In 1949, the family arrived in the newly liberated city of Zibo, where her father was tasked with establishing a new enterprise related to the electric power industry. From then on, Zibo became her home. After completing her studies in 1958, Hanlin was assigned to work at the Shandong Silicate Research Institute. She remained with the same institution until her retirement in 1996, dedicating nearly four decades to ceramic research. Her family life was equally fulfilling. In 1963, she married Fuqing Liu, a classmate from her secondary school years. Their marriage was marked by deep love and devotion throughout their lives together. They welcomed a daughter and then a son, Haiyan and then Jindao. Both children married, adding a son-in-law, David Croft, and a daughter-in-law, Angela Leong. Hanlin had five grandchildren, Lorena, Catherine and Joshua Croft and Jack and Georgia Liu. Hanlin approached both work and learning with exceptional diligence and rigor. During her school years, foreign language instruction focused primarily on Russian. However, her research work required extensive use of English-language materials. Determined to overcome this challenge, she taught herself English and eventually became capable of translating substantial technical texts on her own. She also possessed a remarkable aptitude for mathematics. In an era before computers were widely available, she relied on handwritten calculations, slide rules, and other simple tools to collect and analyze large amounts of research data. Her work made important contributions to her field, and several volumes of her meticulously handwritten research records remain preserved in the archives of the institute where she worked. In 1982, a research project in which she participated received a Gold Medal at the Zagreb International Fair. Even during the busiest periods of her career, she never stopped learning. In 1983, she completed postgraduate studies at Shanghai University of Science and Technology with excellent results. In the late 1980s, she was awarded the professional title of Senior Engineer in recognition of her expertise and contributions to her field. Some of her research papers on ceramics can still be found in professional journals today. Hanlin was sincere, kind-hearted, and always willing to help others. In her younger years, she successfully rescued a drowning child. She offered selfless assistance to relatives, friends, colleagues, and neighbors whenever they were in need. Her love for her family was boundless. She devoted herself to supporting those she loved in every way she could and was both thoughtful and conscientious in raising her children. In 1995, she moved to the United States. While helping care for younger family members, she also returned to work and spent another ten years building a career there. Perhaps by providence, before the age of three, when her father was often away for work, her mother would frequently take her to play at the church on Dama Road in Yantai. Even as an adult, she retained faint memories and fragments of stories from those early visits. After arriving in the United States, she embraced the Christian faith and became an active participant in church life. On 12 June 2026, Hanlin passed away peacefully at home. May she dwell forever in the joy, peace, and happiness of God’s eternal kingdom. In Heaven there is no pain or suffering.