I’m Mike Ryan, a member of the San Mateo County Astronomical Society since 1963 (the only one remaining from the ’60’s). I just returned from a week visiting my 83-year-old invalid sister and her family and was shocked and saddened to learn this morning that our blessed friend Ken Lum had passed away on May 12th, the day after I’d left for Phoenix.
I feel great sorrow at Ken’s passing. For me, it’s one more in a string of tragic losses, following the death a month ago of a woman I’d known (along with her husband) since 1970 at my home religious institution, and the news I just received that my favorite cousin, a woman in London, (and just Ken’s age) has terminal cancer for which she has halted treatment.
It strikes particularly close to home for me, because I’m midway through 75, and less than a year younger than Ken was.
It’s a time of great flux for my wife, Lily, as well. Two years ago, she lost her mother and brother-in-law, along with three lifelong friends, all in Mexico.
Ken was a thoroughly-devoted family man, partnering with his wife, Loh- Chung, an outstanding accountant, to keep their residence in San Carlos, bought new, in tip-top shape. He provided a home for his daughter when she went East to school.
Ken also took loving care of his dear mother (in her 90’s, I think) who lived in San Francisco’s Chinatown until her last days, just about three years ago. He used to apologetically excuse himself from Society board meetings in order to go ‘spell off’ her in-home caregiver but would always stay in close touch with us within a day.
If memory serves, Ken joined the Society in the early 1970’s; I think he may have been our last member from that era. He was a longtime ER physician for Kaiser, as well as a student of history and a friend to all.
Ken was a talented telescope maker, modifier and maintainer, having, for years, a superb workshop with upscale machining and optical equipment in his garage. He loved quality and was the proud possessor of superb apochromatic refractors (one of which member Chanan Greenberg bought and turned into a superb astro-camera), and Astrophysics mounts, of such high quality and exclusivity that they had years-long waiting lists and appreciating in value like fine jewelry or historic automobiles. Ken also skilled at mounting two telescopes on a shared mount, so that he could both observe and photograph in the same session.
Ken was generous and thoughtful, authoring cards and sharing photos. I remember one October Fleet Week Lily and I met with Ken and Loh-Chung in San Francisco, at Sam and Maria Sweiss’s ‘Scope City’ store on Bay Street. Sam (now in Las Vegas) gave us parking passes at their garage, from which we walked to watch the Blue Angels perform over the Marina Green.
As a devoted long-term member of the Antique Telescope Society, Ken loved traveling across the globe to visit landmarks and locations of historic astronomical significance. He also attended numerous solar eclipses in widely separated locations. I’ve been to a dozen of them myself, but Ken went further afield, to India, Mongolia and Siberia, among others. He knew so much, and was so interesting in his presentation, that he was the slam-dunk go-to speaker at pretty much any Society member gathering.
And he was always generous with his time and effort, no matter the reason. Ken was a tireless participant in numerous presentations and exhibitions to the public. He was an anchor at most Crestview Park star parties in San Carlos, and a leader of outreach to the attending public.
In fact, year-in and year-out, Ken was the Society’s coordinator with the San Carlos Parks and Recreation Department, which not only allowed SMCAS to use the Park after hours almost since year 2000, but which agreed not to install lights on the Greg Nannarone Soccer Field, which would have made stargazing at Crestview all but impossible.
Ken also was, for years, the organizer and facilitator of our shared presentations at the Hidden Villa Park public lecture and stargazing site in Los Altos Hills. And whether at Crestview, or Hidden Villa, or anywhere else, Ken was always johnny-on-the-spot for generously preparing hot dogs and hamburgers, supplying condiments and useful implements for all comers.
Not only that, but Ken, for the last few years, authored an email newsletter containing a PDF list of astronomy-related events throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. His very last issue, heralding the current two weeks of activities, arrived in my inbox on May 11th, the day before his death.
I would say that this magnificent man “died with his boots on”. And, he has certainly left behind some enormous shoes to fill.
God bless Ken, his wife Loh-Chung, and those others dear to him.
Thanks for your attention. Feel free to contact me if I can provide any more useful information.
Mike Ryan
jmrastro@yahoo.com
(650) 678-2762