With great sadness, we announce that Yan Zhen Li passed away on January 9, 2020 at the age of 46 years. Yan was our beloved mother, wife, mentor, and best friend.

 

We believe Yan was an angel sent by God; God only gave our family a short but well cherished twenty-two years with her. Yan was the greatest blessing given to our family, and we will forever be grateful to God for the love and happiness she brought to our family.  Yan let her joy and love flood over marriage, motherhood, and the household. We would like to thank her; she used her kind and loving heart to bring warmth to the family. Her wit and intelligence were used to teach her son and help her husband.  Her strength and persistence gave us hope during rainy days.

 

Yan is survived by her husband Xun, her son HongYang, her two older sisters, and her parents.

 

Ever since Yan Zhen was young, she was passionate about learning new things and strove to increase her knowledge and self improvement. Since primary school, her parents never worried about her academic progress; Yan always achieved the top grades in the class. Academic achievement continued to her completion of a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Chong Qing University in China, where she graduated at the top of her class. To provide a better academic future for her son, Yan and her family moved to Canada, eventually settling in Winnipeg. Yan Zhen faced the difficult responsibility of looking after the household and her young son. She also found time to help as cashier in the family grocery store. In spite of these obstacles, Yan managed to finish her Structural Engineering Diploma at Red River College in 2006 and graduate with a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Engineering in the University of Manitoba in 2009.  Yan completed her education with a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 2017.

 

Yan Zhen spent her moments of leisure with the family watching movies, teaching her son mathematics, going for walks in the neighbourhood, and taking numerous photographs of her family during outings to places such as Banff and San Diego.

 

During her honourable engineering career, Yan Zhen worked many engineering jobs requiring high levels of commitment and responsibility. Her first engineering job was for the Water Supply Company in Fuzhou, China, where she worked from 1996-2002. During that time she initially worked as a mechanical engineer, later being promoted to the quality management coordinator. After immigrating to Canada, her first engineering job after completing her diploma in Red River College was working as an engineering designer at SNC Lavalin from 2006-2008. After Yan Zhen had completed her Post-Baccalaureate Diploma at the University of Manitoba, she worked as a structural engineer at Buhler Industries Inc. from 2009-2011. Yan Zhen was very ambitious, eager to learn, and wanted to explore more aspects of engineering.  This led her to work as a structural engineer for AJP Engineering Services from 2011-2013, where she worked to design structures for commercial and industrial buildings. Her engineering career continued and she worked at Manitoba Hydro from 2013-2017, as a structural engineer for hydro generating stations. During her stay at Manitoba Hydro, she was still able to complete the final step of her education and she obtained her Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering. Yan Zhen’s actions of ambition, persistence, commitment, and strong work ethic will motivate her family forever to achieve great accomplishments in life.

 

We will forever love her and miss her, though we know that her spirit still lives in our heart. We are well aware the she is watching over us in heaven, and praying for us to live happy days for the rest of our lives. She is the angel of our family and friends, and her companionship will be missed greatly.

 

In Accordance with Yan’s wishes, cremation and burial has occurred, and no formal service was held.

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