Margie Fung Sweitzer's Obituary
Announcement
This serves as the special announcement of the sudden and unexpected passing of our beloved Nabu, Margie Fung Sweitzer, whose maiden name, Fung Ma Chi, in the Chinese Shanghai dialect, became almost a kind of nickname when she moved to the diminutive for grandmother. After residing in Shanghai, Taiwan, Michigan, New York, Hong Kong, and California over the course of her life, she eventually took up
residence in Broken Arrow, OK along with her husband of 65 years, James William Sweitzer, and lived to the ripe old age of 90/91 years old, by “special might,” as the Bible says, and departed on Monday, December 23, 2024.
Life
Margie was born on September 4, 1934, a date on the Gregorian calendar that she settled on for the purpose of official documents. Her actual birthdate, however, was determined by the Chinese lunar calendar which is based on the cycles of the moon. The start of each month aligns with the new moon, causing dates to shift slightly each year when compared to the solar-based Gregorian calendar.
This led to some inevitable confusion about her age within the family, but we would always laugh about it because, in any case, Nabu was often coy about her age.
Margie was born in Shanghai, China to her parents Professor Harry Fung and Pearl Fung. Educated in the United States, her father was a well-respected man, and Margie had a relatively calm childhood, until Mao Tse-Tong was elected chief of state of the people’s republic of China in 1949. Her eldest brother, Steve, was working as a customs officer at the time, and when his little sister came home quoting Mao and singing propagandist songs, he arranged to have her smuggled out of the country along with her cousin Tommy.
Margie would recount her brother’s words, “Fàn yiě meí yǒu nǐ zaì chàng shén me gē?!” “There’s not even any food to eat, what are you singing about?!” A distinctly formative memory for Margie’s descendants was hearing how the smugglers were scheming to kill their “cargo”, “taking the money and running,” as Margie and Tommy crawled underneath barbed wire. Only the knowledge that her brother Steve was a customs officer and would find and punish them saved her life and Tommy’s. How could Steve have known that he would be saving Margie’s entire family to come? We bless his memory, too!
After a sampan ride across the Taiwan Strait, she landed in Taipei, Taiwan, where she eventually met and married the man of her life, her one and only husband, James William Sweitzer in 1959. Margie’s devotion and dedication to her family, the care of her husband, children, grandchildren, and pets is outstanding. She used to say that she was a domestic engineer. We would add to that, “Of the highest order!” No one could cook like her, especially her Shanghai-style Chinese cuisine: red-cooked fish with scallions and ginger,
tzòng tzi, a lotus leaf-wrapped sticky rice and pork dumpling, homemade mán tóu (steamed buns), wonton dumplings like no other you’ve tasted, made from hand-rolled wonton skins and freshly-made filling. Food became a main love-language for Margie, and each family member had their own favorite.
For example, whenever her beloved son, Robert, would come home to visit, she would always make sure to make tsōng bǎo níu ròu sāi shāo bǐng (an epically delicious leek and beef sauté filling stuffed in freshly toasted sesame bread pockets). On cold winter nights, especially New Year’s Eve, Margie often prepared hot pot. She would set a large pot filled with boiling broth on a propane stove in the middle of the dining table, surrounding it with all sorts of thinly sliced meats, fish balls, vermicelli noodles, tofu, bok choy, shrimp, etc, and we would cook together at the table for dinner. We would eat and talk for hours. These were joyful times!
With her gift of gregariousness and hospitality, she supported her husband in his business dealings and often hosted wonderful business dinners in Hong Kong to the accolades of her guests.
They say that, “Behind every great man is a practical woman.” No truer is this adage than in James and Margie’s case. She was incredibly sharp-witted when it came to people, and was always ready to stand up for what she believed in, sometimes charmingly and with subtlety, and occasionally with a Proverbial jackhammer, but, above all, always with a deep and constant love in her heart. Our Nabu was the epitome of a consistent matriarchal prayer warrior, and that faith and energy was felt by every single member of her
family.
She was also active both socially and physically. Margie enjoyed racquet sports, particularly badminton and squash, and she played mahjong skillfully, a skill that she learned from her mother Pearl when their family would gather together for a few rounds of the game on hot summer nights in Shanghai, later on in Taipei, then Hong Kong, and even in Tulsa with her grandchildren. Margie loved her mother, and in raising her own children Margie would often quote her mother’s pithy sayings and Chinese proverbs. She would start by
saying, “My mother always used to say, for example, “Taǒ kóu tzaǐ,” which means in English, “You can have what you say.”
In Chinese it is literally, “Speak from your mouth rainbow.” Another is, “Haì rén zì xīng bù kě yóu; fáng rén zì xīng bù kě wú,” which means, “Do no harm to others, but defense of oneself is a must.” A recurring quote Margie would repeat from her father was, “Listen to others’ opinions; form your own judgement.”
Family
Margie was predeceased by her parents Professor Harry & Pearl Fung, her brothers Steve, Xiǎo Lǎo Hu, Bobby, and her grandparents.
She is survived by her husband James William Sweitzer, by their three children Anne Faith Weston and husband Dale Michael Weston, Eve Faith Muñoz and husband Daniel Raymond Muñoz, and Robert Paul Michael Sweitzer, and by Margie’s older brother Harrison Fung. She is also survived by her six grandchildren: Lynley Michelle Weston and husband Sheldon William Nofer, Ryan Philip Weston and wife Amber Lei Weston, Ethan Ryley Weston and wife Anne Weston, Sophia Eva Muñoz, Nika Ariana
Muñoz, Tahlia Eliana Muñoz, by her great granddaughter Maelei Grace Weston, step great grandson Ronan Kai Fuller, step great granddaughter Berkley Nevaeh Fuller, and by her nephew Jason Fung.
Final Thoughts
Margie’s father, Professor Harry Fung, used to sing a 1920’s vaudeville song popularized by Eddie Cantor called “My Little Margie.” And when she would be upset about something, he would sing certain portions of it to her, like :
“My little Margie
I'm always thinking of you
Margie, I'll tell the
World I love you.
Margie
You've been my inspiration
Days are never blue
After all is said and done
There is really only one
Oh, Margie, Margie, it's you.
Today, we send Margie off, with melancholy in our hearts because she was such a HUGE foundational part of our lives. Her departure has left a void that could never be filled. Like her granddaughter Tahlia said to Nabu over Thanksgiving, not knowing it would be their last meeting on this earth, she was and is “irreplaceable.” However, Nabu Margie insisted on being positive, drawing on her immense faith, always saying: “Good things coming!” So, despite our sadness and loss, we will always remember, and seek to honor with positive and appreciative spirit the amazing human being that we were privileged to know and to call our wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, daughter, sister, and aunt.
Margie loved her Heavenly Father with such a fervent faith that she was always thanking Him for the blessings in her life and counting on Him to hear her prayers in behalf of her family. Her husband James can attest that Margie was a prayer warrior like no other, sometimes praying hours in a day, always for family, and also for country. Her last words to her husband James were, “You take care. Be careful and you take care.” So we thank you, Margie, Mom, Nabu, Niāng-Niāng (auntie), for the gift of our lives, your blessing, protection, love and care, and we know that the same hedge of protection you prayed for us encircles you as we entrust you to our Heavenly Father who continues to care for you and the rest of us as we journey towards our highest calling.
What’s your fondest memory of Margie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Margie?
Share a story where Margie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Margie you’ll never forget.
How did Margie make you smile?