King Lau Howe ’52

King Lau Howe ’52 of Wilmington, Delaware, died peacefully at home with his family on April 24, 2014. He was born in Shanghai, China, on September 4, 1928, son of A.F. Howe and T.S. Fang, and the fourth of five children. He left China at the time of the Communist revolution, working at the Royal Observatory in Hong Kong until a scholarship from Dartmouth allowed him to emigrate. King prepared for college at St. Francis Xavier’s College in Shanghai. At Dartmouth King majored in chemistry. He was a Rufus Choate scholar and a member of the Cosmopolitan Club. He then earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. His 38-year career as a polymer chemist with the DuPont Corp. resulted in several patents. The breadth of King’s intellectual interests was remarkable, his thinking always marked by rigorous logic and searching curiosity. During his retirement years much of his energy was devoted to studying the financial markets. An avid amateur photographer, he loved camping and hiking with his family. He was a founding member of the Chinese American Community Center in Hockessin, Delaware, and served many years on its board of directors. His calm, diplomatic leadership played an important role in the growth of the organization. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Chin, children Carol and Ken, son-in-law Eugene and daughter-in-law Soyoup and grandchildren Ty, Sophie, Maya, Louisa, Emmet and Ellis.