Peter Chen

My best friend, my husband, and the father of our three precious sons.

Dr. Peter Chen was born in a naval hospital in Taiwan on July 28, 1963.  He was the eldest of two brothers. He grew up in Taiwan and enjoyed biking and exploring the mountains with his childhood best friend, Chopin. He left Taiwan with his family to Panama City, Panama, and finished high school at Balboa Academy, while his father served as a military attaché. In 1981, he came to the US to attend college with $200 in his pocket. Aunt Irene and late Uncle Julius lived in Austin and guided him to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton to start as a freshman studying mathematics. Besides dedicating himself to his studies, he worked three jobs all throughout his time at UMHB to put himself through school.  He was especially grateful to Mr. Clemons who assisted greatly in awarding Peter every scholarship for which he qualified.  He attended UT Austin after graduating from UMHB but did not like the secular environment.  One day he saw graffiti outside of the math building spelling “Baylor”, which inspired him to transfer to Baylor University where he met his future wife, Ping, who is also from Taiwan.  The summer after receiving a Master of Science from Baylor in 1989, he returned to the UMHB campus to visit former professor and chair, Dr. Charlotte McShea, who was proud and pleased to see Peter, and told him “Why don’t you come and work for me?”.  Peter started teaching as an instructor in the math department in 1989. Peter and Ping were married the following year on the morning of Christmas day in 1990 at the home of late professor Dr. Delores Hinton and her husband Pastor Jimmy Hinton.  Peter worked full-time in the math department while continuing to study at Baylor University. Some of the happiest times Peter and Ping shared were starting their new life together and sleeping on their apartment floor for the first few years before getting their first mattress. Peter and his wife Ping were blessed to be able to start a family and two sons, Dustin and Aaron, were born by the time he received his PhD from Baylor University in 2001, after receiving a Master of Arts in 1999. God gave them their youngest son, Ethan, in 2004 to complete the Chen family.

As a professor, Peter knew nothing other than total dedication to his teaching and his students. While Ping was pregnant with Aaron, having premature contractions and going into labor in the first trimester, Peter drove Ping to the hospital. After dropping her off at Scott & White Hospital, Peter returned to his classroom to his students. His excuse to his wife at the time was that summer classes only had so many sessions, and the students needed all of them! He loved encouraging his students to seek excellence; many of the students he taught over the years continued their higher education to become doctors, engineers, professors, principals, and many others excelled in various professional fields.  He was always proud and happy to hear back from former students when they sent letters or visited him on campus.  One of the reasons he enjoyed staying long hours in his office was that he had the best view on campus; directly across from the other end of the Chapel. He had a pillow under his computer desk facing the Chapel for when he felt the need to talk to the Lord in prayer.

As a father, he was a proud Babi and loved the boys unconditionally.  He would take the family along when attending the annual National Statistics Conference in various cities during the summers. He was the happiest when taking his wife and children on road trips across North America. One year they drove three days one-way to Montreal, Canada for the conference. People on the street could not believe the license plate from TEXAS wherever they went.

To the boys, Peter was not Dr. Chen, he was simply the goofy and fun dad who would play with them and taught them many things in life, including many math lessons on the dining table. As a husband, he constantly told his wife Ping that she was his dream girl and that she was the most precious person in the world to him. Since their time at Baylor, Peter would take Ping on road trips to which she would always hold his hand as he drove, and Ping would always say that she wished the road never ends.

After battling with many health issues and illnesses in the past few years, Peter finally went to be with the Lord on August 2, 2024.  To the boys, he was the greatest warrior they knew, always overcoming life’s many difficulties. Peter loved life passionately and frequently instructed the boys to have the joy of the Lord in everything. The family is comforted only by knowing that Peter is no longer suffering or in pain. He is in the presence of Jesus, walking and jumping freely, and praising God with his loud teaching voice!  We can’t wait and are looking forward to the day that our family will be reunited with him in the presence of the Almighty God forever and ever. Amen!