Woman in China dies at 103 still faithful to husband who left for Singapore in 1944
Jaden Darrius Png
TNP
March 20, 2025
Madam Du Huzhen last saw her husband Huang Junfu in 1944.
He had returned to the Kuomintang army and sent her letters.
His last letter to his wife, written on Jan 15, 1952, indicated that he was working in Malaysia.
Government documents showed that Mr Huang settled in Malaysia in 1950 before moving to Singapore several years later.
Although Madam Du had no more contact with Mr Huang after the letter in 1952, she did not give up hope and waited for his return.
On March 8, Madam Du died in Guizhou province, China, while holding the pillow cover she had used when she married Mr Huang in 1940, reported Shanghai Morning Post.
She was 103 years old.
Madam Du was 19 when she married Mr Huang, who was three years her junior.
The couple had a son, Huang Fachang, in 1944. He became a middle school teacher in the late-1970s and died in 2022.
"You should make Fachang's education a priority no matter how poor the family is," Mr Huang wrote in the final letter to his wife.
"We will definitely reunite."
Madam Du did farm work and made straw sandals to support the family. She remained faithful, holding on to the hope that her husband would return.
She turned down other marriage proposals, saying: "What if he returns some day?"
"She was always optimistic," Madam Du's granddaughter Huang Liying was quoted as saying.
"She always told us to study hard and give back to society."
