Ms. Lily Tu ‘49

Born of Mary and Thomas Chin in Lewiston, ME, she was the eldest of 8 children. Lily attended Boston University and the Andover Newton Theological School, where she completed her MA in Religious Education in 1949. While there, she sang with the Handel and Haydn Society and Sara Caldwell’s Opera Company of Boston. She is well known for her pioneering work in liturgical dance. A prize-winning ballroom dancer, she wrote her master’s thesis on liturgical dance and went on to teach young people this artful and graceful way of relating to the church service.

She also worked in race relations in a number of contexts, winning recognition for her work with Christians and Jews and with residents of Chinatown. An active member of her community and the West Parish of Barnstable, Lily was honored by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as an Unsung Heroine in 2006. Her community named her Citizen of the Year in 2007 for “making West Barnstable a better place through her inspiration, dedication and community spirit.”

In 2009, she was the recipient of Andover Newton’s Spirit of the Hill award. She was a lifelong learner and educator.