Pearl Fu, the woman for whom most have run out of superlatives in describing, is leaving the Roanoke Valley this week for good.
Fu, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, will move with her husband C.C. Fu to Philadelphia, where they will live in a new high-rise apartment building two miles from their daughter, Colette Fu, an internationally renowned pop-up book artist.
Over this past weekend Fu received a number of friends in her home—in the midst of moving—including Roanoke Vice Mayor Joe Cobb and city councilman Bill Bestpitch who delivered the city’s best wishes and a gold star as a remembrance.
Fu was the director for 25 years of Local Colors, which many believe to be the very best festival in the Valley. It celebrates the diversity of the Valley and at one point a few years ago had 126 flags of different nations in its parade. It started nearly 30 years ago with four nations represented and Fu built it to a powerhouse, showing off the best of Roanoke in the process.
Fu is a native of China and the daughter of one of Chiang Kai-shek’s top generals, a man revered in his province. Fu came to the United States to study song and dance with the goal of becoming a Broadway actress, but married before she got there. She and her husband, a retired engineer, were transferred to the Roanoke Valley and she raised her three girls here. All have gone on to successful careers.
The Roanoker recently ran a feature on Fu in the January/February 2019 issue (read here).
Vice Mayor Cobb said, “From the moment Pearl arrived in Roanoke in 1986, she has been welcoming strangers from all over the world, helping them find their way into the rainbow tapestry of our city, and putting them to work to shape a multi-cultural wonder in southwest Virginia. It is hard to measure the full impact of Pearl’s life and love here, yet every day we see signs of it in the growing international community so evident on every street and in every neighborhood.
“Personally, I will always be grateful for Pearl’s unconditional love and encouragement. Her presence, her spirit of unwavering hospitality, and her vision for a beautiful and diverse world where everyone has a place to call home, is part of what makes me wake up every day knowing I can make a difference.”
Old friend Barbara Durek called Fu “the queen of the Valley” because “Pearl … has been able to change the world and make it a better place.”
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
