Nellie Chu Eye Tay

Nellie Chu Eye Hoe Tay was born on December 25, 1937, in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China. At a young age she was sent to Burma to live with relatives. She married Samuel Soo Lam Tay on October 2, 1961, at the Chinese Methodist Church in Rangoon, Burma. They had 4 children: Paul, John, Peter and Elizabeth (McVicker). She had 3 grandchildren: Kathryn, Alice, and Alex. She was preceded in death by her parents, Bing Hock Ho and Leu Lu Kei; her husband, Samuel Tay; her son, John Tay; her two brothers, and her sister.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, 237 N. Water Ave. Idaho Falls, ID on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Visitation at 9:00 a.m. at Trinity.

Nellie’s birth family, which included several girls, farmed sweet potatoes in the small village of Dong Keng in Fujian Province, China. As a young girl, Nellie worked on the farm. It was grueling work, and Nellie had a scar on her leg from an accident with a farm tool. When Nellie was 11 years old, a girl cousin fell from a roof and was not expected to live. Nellie’s grandmother suggested she go to live with that family so they could have a daughter. Accompanied by an uncle, she travelled from Dong Keng to Rangoon, Burma. Fortunately, the other daughter survived the fall and became Nellie’s big sister. Nellie was treated very well by her adopted family. Her adopted mother was a nurse, and her adopted father worked at the school. Because Nellie did not like house work, her family chore was to do the grocery shopping. Without refrigerators in the home, this had to be done daily. She graduated from the Chinese Methodist School. In high school, Nellie enjoyed playing tennis. A strong faith in God was instilled in her through the Chinese Methodist Church in Rangoon. Her faith buoyed her through difficult times in her life.

Nellie’s father had a side job packing tea. It was loose-leaf tea that was folded into paper and packed into boxes. The whole family would often stay up late into the night packing tea. Later in life, Nellie visited the Celestial Tea factory in Colorado and was amazed by the automation.

After college, Nellie taught Kindergarten for a short time. She often recalled her first day of teaching when the mischievous children hid in the cabinets and refused to come out. Nellie was fluent in several languages including English, Burmese, Mandarin, Fuchinese, and some Cantonese.

In 1961, Nellie married Samuel Soo Lam Tay in a ceremony at the Chinese Methodist church. It was an arranged marriage that endured until Samuel’s death in 1991. Paul was born on September 1,1962. John was born on July 14,1964. Peter arrived on September 6,1965. Elizabeth was born on September 30, 1968.

After Burma gained its independence from British colonization in 1948, the political climate in Burma became increasingly violent and repressive. The government was run by a socialist military regime that levied quotas on the amount of profit Samuel could make in his import business. He owned and operated a business importing porcelain goods from China. Restrictions were placed on the amount of product he could import and the price he could charge. The business was unable to support the family and so Samuel developed a network of proprietors and shops, but he was actually the owner. Some might describe the network as “clandestine”. Others might call it “resourceful survival”. The Burmese government suspected his activities and conducted surveillance. Late one night, police officers raided the family home and turned the apartment upside down searching for unauthorized wares. After that experience, Nellie decided Burma was no longer safe and wanted to leave. Mrs. Hazel Winslow, an American missionary serving in Burma, helped Samuel apply to the World Council of Churches for a sponsor in the United States. Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was matched with the Tay family. Specifically, it was the Mr. and Mrs. Sunday School Class of Boston Avenue United Methodist Church that would serve as the sponsor.

The paperwork to enter the US was approved for all six family members, but the Burmese government refused to allow Samuel to leave Burma.They would only allow Nellie and the four children to leave. This is the reason the passport picture only includes Nellie and the 4 children. Nellie was distraught about going to a foreign country without knowing the language with four young children. She prayed to God for help. Just hours before the visa to leave Burma for Nellie and the children expired, a door opened. A general who lived in the jungle outside of Rangoon was willing to sign Samuel’s exit visa. Nellie, riding on the back of a cousin’s motorcycle, went to the general’s house under the cover of darkness. She attained the signed paperwork. In March 1971, the family left Burma via airplane with two trunks, filled with their most precious worldly belongings and $30. Nellie managed to find room in the trunks to pack the precious Bible she was given on her wedding day and her English-Burmese Dictionary.

Elizabeth, at 2 ½ years old, enjoyed walking the aisle of the airplane and talking to strangers. During the layover in Hong Kong, the 3 boys enjoyed the amenities at the hotel, including the banisters of the stairs which could quickly zip them down to the lobby.

The family of six arrived at Tulsa International Airport in March 1971. They were greeted by Dr. and Mrs. Duane and Sue Brothers, who with other members of the Mr. and Mrs. Sunday School Class including Dr. and Mrs. Frank and Joanna Clingan, Mr. and Mrs. Dick and June Cleverdon, Mrs. Joyce Beasley, Mrs. Jerry Kaufman, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and Joanne Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Dale and Vivian Woods and Dr. and Mrs. Jay and Ruby Farrish became loyal, lifetime friends. They furnished a rental house just blocks from the church. They even had a job waiting for Samuel. The Tay’s first meal in Tulsa was hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Dale Woods. Nellie really enjoyed the buttered corn and asked Mrs. Woods to show her how to make it that very evening. She put the corn in a pan, added water, and boiled it. Before serving, she added butter.

The next day, the church folks had a “pound” party where each person brought a pound of something: a pound of flour, a pound of sugar, a pound of oil, etc. Mrs. Woods brought popcorn and a popcorn popper. Nellie only heard that it was corn and she excitedly cooked it just as Mrs. Woods had showed her the night before. She put it in a pan with some water, added butter and boiled it. She boiled and boiled and boiled it, but it wouldn’t get soft like Mrs. Woods’ corn. Finally, Nellie called her on the phone and asked why her corn didn’t get soft. Mrs. Woods burst out laughing because it was popcorn, which should be cooked with the popcorn popper. This was a story the two of them enjoyed together for many years to come. The family enjoyed the popcorn popper once they learned how to use it, and Nellie learned how to make many other American dishes in addition to boiled corn.

In Burma, women were expected to stay home with the children, not work outside the home. In the United States, two incomes were needed to support the family. Nellie rose to the challenge by learning how to sew and got a job in a sewing factory. Then she learned to cook, first working in a Chinese restaurant. She worked as a cook at Denny’s for many years. She was an extremely hard worker, sometimes working double 8-hour shifts multiple days in a row. She worked on her birthday, which was also Christmas, for the double overtime pay. She usually worked on Sundays and wasn’t able to attend church. Through Denny’s profit-sharing model, she earned enough money to make a down payment on a home on Toledo Avenue in a nice part of Tulsa in 1976.

The family became US citizens on May 26, 1977, after living in the US for 6 years. It was a memorable day for Elizabeth who was allowed to attend the naturalization ceremony instead of school. A celebratory lunch was enjoyed at Denny’s where Nellie worked. The family rarely ate out, so this was quite a treat. Nellie and Sam were very frugal. On family outings, usually fishing at Keystone Lake, Nellie would make steamed buns filled with meat for the road. Since we were the only Chinese family in Tulsa, Chinese New Year celebrations were not elaborate. Nellie would make sweet rice cakes which were so sticky, she cut it by wrapping sewing thread around it and pulling the thread together.

Nellie had a gift with food. She could design and create beautiful food sculptures. Nellie invented chicken nuggets before McDonalds made them popular. She called them “chicken cookies” and they were always popular at church potlucks. Elizabeth loved church potlucks. because it was the only time Nellie would make her unique shrimp chips.

When Elizabeth got married, Nellie made her own dress for the wedding. It was pink lace, two of her favorite things in the world: the color pink and lace. Nellie also catered the wedding meal. It was a feast fit for royalty including her special egg rolls.

With the money from Samuel’s life insurance, Nellie invested in real estate. She owned 5 properties and put an addition on the family home.

When Elizabeth was college shopping, Nellie agreed to drive her to St. Louis to visit Washington University. They packed up the little red Ford Pinto and took the 6-hour drive. She thought Washington University would be an excellent school for Elizabeth–not too far from Tulsa. Also, the University introduced Nellie to port wine cheese, which she enjoyed immensely. Nellie didn’t really want Elizabeth to go to Yale because it was too far away, and Nellie had never heard of it. Elizabeth went to Yale anyway, and Nellie discovered that it was actually a pretty good school. She travelled to visit Elizabeth at Yale during the first semester and then returned for Elizabeth’s graduation 4 years later. This was the beginning of many journeys to visit Elizabeth as Elizabeth moved from place to place. Nellie travelled to New Haven, CT; Berkeley, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Cheyenne, WY; and Salt Lake City, UT. Nellie also took a church mission trip to Panama in 2000. She was the cook and kept track of the expenses for the team. In 2001 Nellie travelled by herself to China. She was most impressed with the Pearl Tower in Shanghai. Nellie returned with a handmade quilt of the Chinese zodiac that still hangs in their living room. In 2025, Elizabeth and her daughter, Alice, travelled to China and made a point to visit the Pearl Tower so they could report back to Nellie.

During the Greyhound bus trip from Tulsa to Berkeley, Nellie missed one of the connections and got into Berkeley late. This was before cell phones and there was no way to communicate the delay to Elizabeth. At the appointed time, Elizabeth went to the bus station to pick her up. Nellie was nowhere to be found. Her bus arrived, but she was not on it. Elizabeth waited for an hour. She searched the halls of the bus station over and over again desperately looking for her dear mother. Thoughts raced through Elizabeth’s mind like “I’ve lost my mother. What am I going to tell my brothers?” Dejected, she returned to her apartment in Berkeley. Hours later, there was a phone call. Nellie had finally arrived at the bus station and all was well.

Nellie loved her three grandchildren: Kathryn, Alice, and Alex. Nellie took care of her grandbaby Kathryn for 6 months in Phoenix and Nellie travelled often to visit Elizabeth and her family. They took a family trip to Niagara Falls, a life-long dream of Nellie’s. In November 2014, Nellie and Elizabeth took a road trip for Nellie to finally see Las Vegas. While they were out, they also went through Colorado, Utah, and California to visit family and friends from Burma. In all, they travelled 4,500 miles with Elizabeth driving and Nellie comfortably settled on the back seat of the mini-van.

When Elizabeth moved to Salt Lake City, she purchased a condo with the thought that one day Nellie would live with her. Nellie had severe arthritis in her knees which limited her mobility. The condo was handicap-accessible and had underground parking with an elevator. It was perfect. In May 2021, Nellie finally announced, after years of prodding, that she would move to Salt Lake City. She had lived in Tulsa for 50 years, but most of her friends had passed away, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to care for herself. Elizabeth and Nellie lived the last 5½ years together in Salt Lake City, Park City, and finally Idaho Falls.

On August 16, 2026, another door opened for Nellie. It was a door she had patiently waited for God to open. Although her body declined, although her mind declined, her spirit was always strong. Her faith in God never wavered. And now she has returned home.

Condolences may be sent to the family at https://www.simplycremations.care/obituaries/nellie-tay