My late husband Eugene and I were born on opposite sides of the world. The journey from Gulangyu, China, to Sedro-Woolley, WA, where we met was a long one: 6168 miles, not half-way around the world, but still a very long distance.

In part 1, I tell of his chopstick-holding technique and his mother’s prediction, two wars, and a crash course to learn English when he moved to Yokohama, Japan. But he still had 4766 miles to go. The unlikely events that eventually brought us together included: “jungle rot,” uncertainty at Boeing, Maidenform bras, and a persuasive priest.

The University of the Philippines and a bad case of “jungle rot”

After 12^th grade graduation from St. Joseph College in Yokohama, Japan, Eugene followed his family to Manila and enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering program at the University of the Philippines. In those days the UP dormitories didn’t have air conditioning or even fans.

By the end of Eugene’s sophomore year, the extreme heat and humidity plus lingering results of the malnutrition he experienced as a child caught up with him, and he came down with a bad case of what he called “jungle rot.” Although tropical ulcers usually occur below the knee, Eugene’s lesions were on his back. After some attempts to treat the condition, his doctor suggested that he should either find an air-conditioned room or transfer to a school in a country with a more temperate climate. A friendly Jesuit priest suggested Seattle University.

Seattle University

I was a freshman at Seattle U when Eugene transferred from the University of the Philippines. I didn’t meet him there, though. He was too busy studying, cooking for his four roommates, and holding down a number of part-time jobs. One of the most colorful was his job as a bouncer at the Wah Mee gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown. Years later, the club achieved notoriety when Willie Mak and two accomplices gunned down fourteen people during a robbery.

By Eugene’s senior year, he had found a more peaceful job answering the phone for the priests and seminarians at Saint Edwards Seminary on the north end of Lake Washington.

Boeing changes its mind, and Maidenform busts in.

Months before graduation, Eugene already had a job offer from Boeing. And then, suddenly, due to uncertainty with the Super Sonic Transport project, he didn’t. With his student visa about to expire and no other prospect in sight, he accepted a job with Maidenform. It seems that designing a bra requires the expertise of stress engineers.

When he told his boss at the seminary, the old priest frowned. “That’s no job for a young man,” he said. He clasped his hands together over his ample belly and pondered for a moment. “I’ll find you something more suitable.” And he did. He called priest friends around the Northwest, and found one who could help: Father Brendan Gallagher at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Sedro-Woolley, WA.

A persuasive priest

Father Brendan Gallagher was very persuasive. So when he “suggested” to Sid McIntyre, a parishioner and also the owner of Skagit Corporation, a manufacturer of equipment for logging, construction and shipping, that he ought to hire the “nice young engineer from Seattle University,” Mr. McIntyre agreed that, yes, he could use another engineer.

But that wasn’t the end of Father Gallagher’s help. Before long he decided Eugene needed assistance finding a girlfriend. Never lacking in ingenuity, he concocted various pretexts for Eugene to meet suitable young women. I was one of them.