Mabel, age 87, passed away suddenly after teaching one final Tai Chi class on Friday, November 3, 2023.

Mabel spent the first decade of her life in China before leaving her beloved grandparents and immigrating with her mother to the United States through Angel Island to  join her father in Seattle, Washington.  A few years after coming to the United States, her twin brothers were born.  Mabel was very close to her brothers from the day they were born until the day she died. As a teenager, she worked as a waitress and had fond memories of bringing home free records from the juke box.  She met her husband of 60 years, Gordon, at the University of Washington and "let him catch her".  She graduated and worked at a local hospital as a nutritionist.  Gordon and Mabel later travelled east with the Army and built a life in the Washington D.C. area. They loved to jitterbug and did everything together as a couple.

A loving wife and mother, Mabel kept their home warm and comforting and raised 3 children, Debra, Monica and Bryan.  She was active as a 4H leader, teaching skills such as cooking, sewing, crocheting, gift wrapping, cake decorating, and bowling to the suburban 4H club members after school.  She took her leadership role seriously, organizing field trips, guest speakers, parties, and many other activities as she helped shape the minds of the next generation.  In addition to kid centered activities, she also taught Chinese cooking at the local community college.  Later, Mabel and Gordon joined a racquetball club where they made life long friends and played in many tournaments.  As her children grew up and went to college, Mabel started working for the Center of Foreign Journalists where she got to travel to Italy and Russia!

Upon turning 50, Mabel became a grandmother for the first time and welcomed a new generation into the Chin clan.  She had a total of 7 grandchildren with ages spanning 20 years.  The family celebrated milestones, took many vacations, and went to reunions with their expanding family.  Their first "big" family vacation with all of their kids and grandkids was in 2004 when they went to Walt Disney World.  Later, big family vacations became an annual event.  In addition to traveling around the continental U.S., Mabel and Gordon took their family all over the world to places like Alaska, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, France, Norway, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Ireland, Aruba, and China. 

After retirement, Mabel enjoyed taking and teaching classes at the Cascades and Ashburn Senior Centers.  She was a devoted Tai Chi instructor spending a significant amount of time practicing new routines to teach the class.  She made many friends at the Senior Centers who comforted and helped her after Gordon died of cancer a little over a year ago.  She was very grateful to her friends who went to lunch with her, took her shopping, played Mahjong or just called her to talk after Gordon died. She said many times that her life would have been sad if she did not have such good friends.

She is survived by her children, Deby (D.H.), Monica (Kevin) and Bryan (Marianne). She has 6 grandchildren, Michelle, Adam, Brianna, Tyler, Connor and Christopher.  She is preceded in death by her husband Gordon and grandson Ryan.  She is also survived by 2 brothers, Henry and Harry (Susan) along with 4 brothers-in-law, Bill (Mamie), Stephen (Janet), Kenneth (Janet) and Phil (B.J.) and numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand nephews.  

After losing her husband of 60 years, Mabel has now joined his spirit and they are once again having new adventures together (and probably dancing the jitterbug).