April 26, 2024: On April 17, 2024, Simmons University gave a brunch to celebrate the Josephine Riss Fang Scholarship Fund. Below is a photograph taken at the brunch showing the Fang siblings with the Dean and President of Simmons.
Click here to see the program booklet.
Click here to see the slideshow presented at the brunch.
Click here to hear the speeches given at the brunch.
Finally, Click here to hear an interview of Josephine taken by the Belmont library.
September 20, 2023: Internment.
Today the urns containing the ashes of Josephine and Pao were buried at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. There is a Find-A-Grave website page for each of them that gives the details.
Josephine Fang find-a-grave site
Pao Fang find-a-grave site
On the page, click on "Show Map" to find exactly where they are located in the cemetery.
Here are a few words Paula gave during the internment:
Mom and Dad - your journeys have been extraordinary.
Dad - I have always admired your drive. From growing up in your remote village of Lijiang, to your escape to Kunming, to your successful exams that procured a spot to come to the US - to your finding Mom and having the vision and the drive to create a life for the two of you here, worlds away from any support either of you had - these were all remarkable achievements. Your passion for your professional studies was equally strong. We will be forever grateful for your creation of our family and our lives here, and for the love and support that you have always given us and our families.
Mom - I have always admired you - your beauty, your wit, your social grace and your compassion. You also took a profound leap of faith, to leave what was familiar and comfortable, to settle in this unknown country with a man whose culture and background was so different from yours, and whom you’d known for such a short time. We are here today because you took this leap, and you made it work for all of us. We are eternally grateful to you for this. We feel so blessed to have had you in our lives for your full 100 years. You will live in our hearts forever.
January 30, 2023: Josephine Fang passed away early this morning, at the age of 100 yrs and 10 months. I have added several files about her life which you can access by clicking on the icons below.
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Here are some outside links that include various obituaries and articles on her:
funeral-home obituary
Simmons University In Memory of Josephine Fang
Simmons University Emerita Professor Josephine Fang Turns 100
Josephine Riss Fang: CALA's Oldest Continuous Member A Photo Montage of Her Life Stories (1library.net)
January 5, 2021: The daughter-in-law of Josephine Fang's 2nd cousin saw this web site and contacted me. She had a wealth of new information on Riss relatives. Before her contact, we knew Josephine's grandfather Johann Riss had at least one brother, as she had two 2nd cousins that she knew. But we were surprised to learn that Johann Riss had 12 siblings! Seven of them died young, but the other five all married and had a total of 16 children and at least 9 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. This added over 40 relatives, most with the spelling of "Rihs". I have updated the Riss family tree, shown below or from the "Trees" tab.
We had a virtual party for Josephine Fang's 98th birthday. Attendees came from California (2), Illinois (2), Florida, North Carolina, New York, and Massachusetts (13). Here is what it looked like:
Josephine Fang celebrated her 95th birthday with a dinner at the Wayside Inn on April 1, 2017. Here are some links about the party:
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Professional photographer's photos of 95th party
Peter's slide show at 95th party (12 minutes 48 seconds long)
The following two links are for her 90th birthday party - high tea at the Concord Colonial Inn - in 2012:
Josephine's 90th birthday booklet
Video of 90th party
2016. Ricki has been in Kunming studying since June, so Anna and family visited her for a week in October. I have updated the Family Trees, Fang Family Cemetery, and Google maps with a lot of new photos and relatives and places from the trip. Also Brother 6 wrote a history of his generation of Fangs, which is included in the Books tab.
Family Trees
Google maps of Fang and Riss locations
Fang Family Cemetery in Lijiang,
Niu Family Cemetery in Lijiang,
China Trip, Oct 8 - Oct 15, 2016 Photos,
Brother 6's history of Fangs,
2013. We just got back from an amazing trip to Lijiang, China, to return Pao's ashes to his homeland. It will take awhile to digest all the photos that we took. Here are some links about the trip:
photos taken by Paul Riss
photos taken by Katherine Fang
Speeches made before the burial of Pao Hsien Fang (English and Chinese)
China Trip, June 22 - July 12, 2013 Photos,
Fang Family Cemetery in Lijiang,
Please take a careful look at the "Unknown Relatives" on the "Trees" page to help me identify any of them.
Welcome! This site has information about the Fang and Riss families including:
Family Trees
Google maps of Fang and Riss locations
Books about the Fang and Riss families
Photo Albums
Family Documents
Biography of Pao Hsien Fang (work in progress)
Scientific Papers of Pao Hsien Fang
Pao's Chinese heritage:
Fang Family Genealogy Book
Obituary of Pao Hsien Fang (English)
Obituary of Pao Hsien Fang (Chinese)
Speeches made before the burial of Pao Hsien Fang (English and Chinese)
Pao Hsien Fang's tombstone
Pao Hsien Fang's virtual tombstone
Fang Family Cemetery in Lijiang,
China Trip, Jan 23 - Feb 6, 2003 Photos
China Trip, June 22 - July 12, 2013 Photos,