Obituary of Kenny Chien

Kenny truly has a special place in my heart. His optimism, will, strength, and resilience was universally respected and beloved by the entire MSK team. He will be missed. After a long and courageous fight, may he rest in peace. Alan Ho

It was 30 years ago that I joined this team of smart, passionate, and great individuals at Morgan Stanley to work on MSTK. The experience I had in this team was, by far, the best of my career. Kenny was one of the team members. He was so welcoming and helpful, making sure I got settled in my new environment quickly. He was a wonderful person.

I am so saddened by this loss. I knew Kenny since I was a grad student at University of Illinois. Kenny was in the recruiting team from Morgan stanley that visited UofI and his conversation with me at the event and then over multiple days is what convinced me to come and pursue a career in wall street. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Kenny for that! I then joined Kenny's team at Morgan Stanley and had the pleasure of working side by side with him for over 5 years. I fondly remember the ski trip we all took with Kenny and the food stops at his favorite Thai restaurants in Massachusetts along the way! I also remember that his love for Thai food made him friends with most of the Thai restaurant owners in midtown (with special mention to Bo at PongSri). I could go on and on - all these memories are priceless to me. I pray for the strength needed by his family at this time of loss and for the peace that will surround his soul as he lays to rest!

I had the privilege of working alongside Kenny to experience his dedication and collaborative spirit. Joining the firm as a fresh graduate, I found his developer kit (MSDE) instrumental in helping me learn and succeed in building large-scale solutions. His helpfulness, humility, and deep knowledge left a profound impact on my professional development. Kenny will be deeply missed and always remembered warmly.

While I was a student intern at GS (summer of 2014/15) i was having a very hard time adjusting to a new country, city and a job. Kenny was cheerful during my internship and I could always approach him with any question about work or life. I’m so sorry to hear about his passing, my prayers are with his family

I met Kenny in the Fall of 1980 at UB. Down the dorm hall of Red Jacket, I see this young boisterous man wearing a WHO rock t-shirt, strumming his air guitar and pretending he was Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend rolled into one. He use to say Disco sucks and rock & roll always. I will miss him. Rest in peace brother. Rock-on forever in heaven. We love you.

I was lucky enough to know Kenny both as a colleague and a friend. At work he was like a wise slightly-older brother - an experienced voice of reason. Outside of work he was a fancy bike / classic rock / gourmet food aficionado who was fun to hang out with. We started families around the same time and I have many fond memories of bike rides and lunches in Chinatown with the kids. He was a funny, kind and gentle soul. I will miss him.

Remember we were young and we had so much fun and memory together. We hung out in McDonald, sometimes in Kenny's parents apartment during high School. We played balls and went to different parties. Kenny loved the singer "Sam Hui" in HK and he could sing his songs very well. He had a good voice. I remembered that we were roommates for two years in College and we enjoyed the cooking and meals together even though our cooking was only passable for college students. I and few of our childhood friends are going to miss Kenny's smiles, jokes, singing and his optimism in life. Friend, RIP.

We knew Kenny since he was a teenager. Kenny is genuine, considerate and a kind person. Remembering Kenny’s talks, laughter, jokes and always finds a way to bring a brighter day to people around him. His singing and laughters are always in our heart. Kenny, may you rest in peace! We miss you ??

Kenny was a source of inspiration for me ever since I sat down at my desk as a wide-eyed graduate on the 14th floor of 750 7th Ave. Kenny’s cubicle was to the right of mine and we clicked immediately. Kenny had a keen sense of quality - he gave a polish to everything he did, at work or at leisure. I learned a lot from him. It was Kenny who inspired me to take up photography, which would become my lifelong hobby - I remember being struck by the quality of the photos Kenny took on his honeymoon in Africa. Some of the treasured memories of Kenny that stand out in my mind: Kenny singing to Lisa at their wedding; Kenny, clad in pro-looking cycling gear, dispensing advice on the Lake Minnewaska bike trips; Kenny and Lisa freezing together with the rest of us in the rental house with no heat on a Vermont ski trip; Kenny behind a video camera during the shoot of “EAI: the Sports Edition” movie; and many, many, many Pongsri lunches. Throughout his long ordeal, Kenny continued to inspire with his resilience, optimism, good humor. I will miss him deeply. May his memory be a blessing.

When I think of Kenny, what come to mind is his warm smile, his love to music - whether is singing or playing guitar and later Chinese erhu. He is so multi-talented. I still remember how impressed I was with his smooth magic trick during MSTK days. His creation of QMon app was a lifesaver for anyone who used IBM MQSeries at the time. Not to mention the family ski trip we went as group. I'm grateful that we kept in touch after MS. The memory of enjoying a good Ramen and Japanese Curry will always be cherished. I will miss Kenny deeply. My deepest condolences and heartfelt wishes go out to his family during this difficult time.

Kenny and I met in high school, we became best of friends instantly...we spent our time together playing baseball...riding bike...learning martial art...Kenny has a good sense of humor, funny, love to sing and he plays excellent guitar...he will always have a special place in my heart, miss you Kenny!!!

I met Kenny & Lisa many years ago (pre Maya) on a Backroads biking trip in the Canadian Rockies. We instantly connected & spent the rest of the trip biking & eating together even though there were other people on the tour. We went on to travel to Spain & Portugal on another biking trip. Kenny was so excited about the plentiful oranges available there, and he’d joke about how he was the only non-Caucasian in Spain. We almost went broke in our first night’s dinner Santiago de Compostelo. After looking at all the incredible restaurants showing off their shellfish, we decided to choose the one that had a great price on their fresh crabs. We thought we could get several pounds of crab for just ten dollars per pound. It was such a deal! When we got the bill it was clear we were not the sophisticated world travelers that we thought we were. When we got the bill, we thought there had to be a mistake. There was. Somehow we miscalculated the dollar equivalent and wound up with a several hundred dollar check, quite a big bill for us way back when. We just laughed & laughed about at how our naive excitement at getting such a deal was probably the most expensive dinner we ever had in our lives. On another biking trip, Kenny had us laughing hysterically by putting on an impromptu improvised show using different Chinese dialects. I wish I had a video of that! After each trip, Kenny always created a professional quality photo diary of the experience. Anytime I think of these adventures together, Kenny’s enthusiasm, quick witted humor and passion for his oranges, it always brings a huge warm smile to my face. He really was and still is a force of nature.

We lost a great friend. Kenny was always a cheerful individual that made us smile. He was full of talent and always shared his greatness to all. He gave me a great gift, the gift of the deepest kind of loving friendship one could have give to another. Our friend was unique and special. He loved the Asian cuisine. The destination must have a “Chinatown”. It was a ritual that he gets water before we leave anywhere. What a funny man! He was smart with the persistent goal of being the “best of the best” in all his activities. Our friend had the passion to live for his family and friends. He worked so hard! His memories will continue to live and be shared. We miss our friend today. It was a true honor to know you and have you part of our lives. Rest in peace, brother! GOD Bless you!

It was always so good to run into Kenny, even after we were no longer colleagues. My sincerest condolences to Kenny’s family.