Lily Chen

Lily was born on December 5, 1961, in Shanghai, China to Bofan Zhang and Rose Marie Wang. As a young girl, Lily lived through the Cultural Revolution in China from 1966-76. In 1980, Lily graduated from Huaizhong High School. At the young age of 19, Lily immigrated alone to the United States.

In 1982, she enrolled in Northern Illinois University. She would later remain at Northern Illinois for two years but felt she could best support her mother and sister by leaving school and working full-time. In 1984, she worked as an Assistant Manager at Szechuan Village Inn, a restaurant in New York City, where she would meet her husband, Michael Chen.

Together in 1989, Lily and Michael opened Morgo’s Dynasty in Plainview, where they would go on to operate the restaurant together for 22 years. In 1992, Lily married Michael, and had their son, Brian. In 1993, the family moved to Dix Hills and their daughter, Vivian was born in 1994.

In 2007, Lily started working at Western Suffolk BOCES, as a Paraprofessional at James E. Allen Elementary School. Lily spent many years working at the school, building long-lasting relationships with the staff and students, many of whom she had a profound impact on. In addition to her work at BOCES, Lily started a second job as a Direct Support Professional in 2012 at LI DDSO (Developmental Disabilities Service Office) where she was a caregiver and provided direct care to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For 11 years, Lily would continue to work both jobs simultaneously.

Lily was diagnosed with a rare and highly aggressive form of Endometrial Cancer in April 2023. Lily passed away at the age of 61 on November 26, 2023, after a tough and courageous battle against the cancer. She is survived by her husband, Michael, her children Brian and Vivian, her father Bofan Zhang and younger sister Nora Dang.