Obituary of Diana P. Lu

Diana P. Lu passed away on September 4th after a long illness at her home in Niskayuna, NY. She was the daughter of MH and CS Pai of Washington DC and the wife of the late Dr. Sung Nien Lu. She was born in Shanghai, China, the fifth of six children and immigrated to the United States in 1949. She attended Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, the University of Wisconsin and Berkeley School of Secretarial Training. She worked at The China Institute in America, located in Manhattan, helping to support her parents. She met Sung Nien Lu in New York City by way of her brother. They became engaged in 1953 and married shortly after in 1954. Initially making their home in the Schenectady area, further education and work brought them to New York City then to Tampa, Florida. They moved back to the Schenectady area in 1960 and settled in Niskayuna in 1961. As well as being a devoted mother and wife, she was an avid gardener, Chinese painter/instructor and a volunteer at the Schenectady Museum (now known as MiSci). She was a passionate lover of all East Asian Art and Culture. She was an early active member of the Chinese Community Center and the Japanese Cultural Association. She frequently shared her passion for Chinese Painting by hosting friends and sponsoring guest artists at her home to paint and obtain supplies. She collected many examples of Chinese folk art and also was a lover of bonsai. The family backyard became a pallet for her creativity. She created gardens that took the viewers of the garden to the mountains in China, that are inspirations for Chinese Painting. She is survived by her sons Rudy and Clarence (Judy Kodela) as well as a brother Michael in Escondido, California and numerous nephews and nieces in Connecticut, California, New York City, Oklahoma and Texas. Many thanks to the health aides who helped her in her final journey; Cassandra, Donna, Rashee, Rita and her favorite, Pamela. They cared for her with true love and were a source of comfort for the family. There will be no viewing and burial arrangements are private. A celebration of Diana's life will be held in the future. Trees may be planted in her memory or donations made to the Mohawk Hudson Bonsai Society (mohawkhudsonbonsai.org), Capital Roots (capitalroots.org), Regional Food Bank (regionalfoodbank.net), or Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org).