The following was the LNVT Association's contribution at Tommie Chen's Celebration of Life which was held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria, on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 10:00 am.
In attendance representing the Association was Mike Dunn, Wally 41VT02. The LNVT video shown during the Memorial was by Greg Whitaker, Julie B. 37VT63. Speaking via Zoom for the Association was Dave Howell, ex-Nellie D. 37VT63. Here's what was said.
It's an honor to be here to talk about a friend, Tommie Chen.
Tommie and I first met in 2006. I had bought one of his tugs and was attending the tug rendezvous in Seattle. Tommy was at the rendezvous too making a presentation. At dinner one evening he and I sat at the same table. Little did I know then what a big impact he would have of my life. In the next 17 years we would drive across the United States together, travel to both Taiwan and China, and have myriad discussions on every aspect of his tugs.
I need a digress a moment and talk about Tommie the philosopher. Let me set the stage. It was 2014 and we had just arrived in Shanghai for a three week-long walk about. The next day we needed to be 1000 km to the West, in Wuhan, to catch a Yangtze River cruise ship. The obvious question was how are we going to get there? Tommie sallied-forth, undaunted, and quickly returned with standing room only tickets on an overnight train. Here we were jet lagged from the long flight across the Pacific and now contemplating another sleepless night standing on a train. Naturally, I had to ask why we didn't go by plane or bullet train. After all, they are a lot faster and only slightly more expensive. In response, Tommie furrowed his brow, looked at me incredulously and said, "Food is better on the slow train."
Tommie's business philosophy was to build the strongest and safest boats possible. When asked why things were done in a particular fashion, he would typically respond, "Otherwise kill customer." Being one of his customers I was happy to hear he held us in such high regard. Clearly he felt very strongly about doing things right.
Tug owners have found over a hundred changes that were made during the tugs' 16 years of production. Tommy was adamant that these changes were improvements and not done to simply save money. History bears him out. In years of looking we have not found a single change that wasn't an improvement.
Tommy was the star at every rendezvous between Washington, Wisconsin and Maryland that he attended. And, he attended over a dozen of them. He was always very generous with his time and would patiently answer every question. Once, while examining a tug, he was asked why it had two window weep holes when the rest of the fleet only had one. He stopped for a moment, tilted his head deep in thought and then replied, with a big smile on his face, "Mistake, no charge."
Tommie's celebrity amongst tug owners embarrassed him. For example, he never understood why tug owners asked him to autograph their tugs. The fact is we know something Tommie couldn't. Because we see it everyday out on the water. Hardly a person goes by a tug that doesn't smile and wave. Tommie's tugs brighten people's lives. So, while food may be better on the slow train, life is made better by being around one of Tommie's tugs. What a legacy he has left. In closing I'd ask John to play the short video we put together honoring our friend, Tommie Chen.
A link to the LNVT video in honor of Tommie: https://youtu.be/n4OAsFBUdMU
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