Rosie Mowha Soohoo

Rosie Mowha Lee Soohoo, an educator, was born in San Francisco, CA on June 18, 1937 as the youngest daughter of parents who immigrated from China to start the US-branch of the family trading company in the early 1900s. She grew up in the Bay Area alongside her two brothers and three sisters.

Rosie graduated from the prestigious Lowell High School in San Francisco and went on to obtain a BS in Physiology at UC Berkeley. She met her future husband, Dr. Ronald Soohoo, a renowned scientist through mutual friends while he was pursuing his PhD at Stanford University.

Although Rosie and Ronald attended rival football universities, they married in 1957 and initially lived in Monte Sereno, CA. They then moved to the East Coast settling in Cambridge, MA where Ronald worked at MIT. They welcomed their first born, a daughter while on the East Coast.

The couple moved back to the West Coast to Pasadena, CA when Ronald was offered a professorship at Caltech in 1961. They welcomed a son in 1963 while in Southern California. They made their final move to Northern California when Ronald became founding Chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department at UC Davis.

Rosie was very active in University Farm Circle which acted as a social and support group for faculty spouses. She was elected as President of the organization in 1969. She was also a founder of the Davis Chinese Fellowship Group, later named the Davis Chinese Association (DCA). Rosie also served on the Friends of Mondavi Center Board and established the DCA scholarship endowment fund.

In addition, she focused on raising her children, supporting Ronald in his university activities and making new friends and relationships that lasted for decades. As her children became teenagers, Rosie obtained a dual-degree from UC Davis with a Master’s Degree in Education and East Asian Studies along with an additional MA degree in Educational Counseling from the University of La Verne.

She embarked on an 18-year career first teaching the Chinese Language to high school students in the San Juan Unified School District and later 3rd grade at Del Paso Manor Elementary in Sacramento. In parallel, Rosie also served on multiple advisory councils and committees at the State and District levels.

After retirement, Ronald and Rosie traveled the world going to far flung places including: India, Tibet, Turkey, Europe, China and many more. Rosie enjoyed entertaining and hosting large gatherings with family and friends. Rosie is survived by her daughter Bonnie Soohoo Lam, son-in-law Kit Lam, granddaughter Reina Lam and by her son Roland Soohoo and daughter-in-law Peggy Fu.

A public memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 5th at the Davis Cemetery and Arboretum at 11 am. There will also be a reception held by the family at the Lam Residence after the memorial service at 1 pm in her honor.

If you would like to attend one or both of these events, please RSVP through the memorial website at: https://everloved.com/life-of/rosie-soohoo/