Rupert Yen's Obituary
Rupert TsungTak Yen, 55, of Memphis, Tennessee passed away on April 14, 2015, after a sudden illness. He leaves behind the loves of his life – his wife Debbie and his two beautiful and talented daughters, Morgan Yen Pattison and her husband Brendan, and Madison Yen Goodwin and her husband Daniel, all of Memphis. He also leaves his loving parents, William and Frankie Yen of West Memphis, sisters Adrianne Yen Croket of Canton, Michigan and Amanda Yen Rickard of Las Vegas, Nevada, brother, Edward Sie of Vancouver BC, as well as three nieces, two nephews and a large contingent of loving family and friends who will miss him terribly.For more than 30 years, Rupert owned and operated the successful commercial photography business Yen Studios. He relished the role of photographer, bearing witness to life’s most joyous moments and capturing the true essence and beauty of his subjects in every photo he took. Rupert was the consummate observer, and his work reflected his innate ability to turn something as mundane as an elevator panel into a work of art. It took a lot of courage and caused some discomfort for him to turn over his photography duties long enough to play the role of father of the bride at the weddings of his two daughters, but he did manage to make it through the vows before pulling out his Nikon and snapping random, casual, and in true Rupert style, stunningly beautiful shots of family and friends.All who knew him will miss his enormous sense of humor, his big warm smile, and – quite simply – his goofiness, that childlike quality that was such a huge part of his personality, that filled any room he inhabited for more than a few minutes, that never failed to make everyone laugh, and that endeared him to everyone he met.When Rupert wasn’t taking pictures or planning his next shoot, he could be found on the tennis courts playing with his teammates or at his favorite restaurants with the “Buffet Boys” (aka usually Jerry, Alberto, Todd, and Larry). His love for crabby legs and Gus’ Fried Chicken was just a couple of his many quirks. A conversation about Gus’ would bring a tear to his eye. And he once claimed that he ate so many crab legs in one sitting, it made his thumbs hurt. He sincerely believed that his red backpack made him look younger and he loved putting random furniture on a set of wheels because he thought it was more convenient. He even put a bike rack on his Subaru Outback because such an outdoors type of vehicle needed a matching bike carrier…which, without question, led to two new bikes for the Subaru-matching bike carrier. He always signed his name with a period at the end. We teased him about being a noun and a verb all in one name.From Richard Avedon to cheesecake made from scratch to surgical tool kits, he was so passionate about so many things. He loved cars and camera equipment, and he was a walking compendium of technical information about both.Rupert did not speak English until the age of nine, and he used that as a convenient excuse for a miscommunication with a photo project, not being able to tell a joke without ruining the punch line and completely butchering our southern sayings. For example, Rupert often said that ‘once in a gray moon’ he was ‘robbing Peter to pay Mary.’It is said that the true measure of a man is how he lived his life. Few lived it with such a voracious appetite for family, friends, and fun as Rupert Yen. His legacy is rich, from his daughters, who inherited his positive energy, creative spirit, and general sense of wonderment about the world around him, to his wife, who will undoubtedly always feel his presence lovingly wrapped around her.Rupert Yen. His name says it all.Visitation will be Saturday, April 18th 2015, from 1:30-2:30 PM at Memorial Park Funeral Home on Poplar Avenue in Memphis. Memorial service will immediately follow, beginning at 2:30 PM.
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