Marie King

Marie Cheng-Yi King passed away on November 23, 2024. She is survived by her husband, Christopher J. King, Jr., daughter Alexandra Robin King, as well as her younger brother and sister, Chi Cheng-Hsueh and Yolanda Cheng-Ying Kulevicz.

Marie was born on January 17, 1949 in Beijing, China. Amid political upheaval, her parents fled with her to Taiwan. She grew there up in military housing, frequently moving to different air force bases with her parents and, eventually, two younger siblings. They made do with very little, raising chickens to eat and bartering with others for food and services.

Upon graduating high school, she moved to Taipei to look for a job. Her uncle helped her find employment at Cheng-Hsin Rehabilitation Center, a rehab facility for polio patients. It was there, where she studied and worked for several years, that she began her lifelong love of physical therapy. Soon after, she took a position at a hospital in Taipei as a physical therapist.

While working at Cheng-Hsin, she also pursued a Bachelor’s degree in English through night classes at Fu Jen University. At a Christmas party in 1974, she met an American man and approached him for help with some of her courses. Three years later, in a mass wedding ceremony on January 1, 1978, the pair were married. It was much cheaper than a standard ceremony, so naturally Marie insisted on it.

That August, they came to the United States and began their life together in a small apartment in Lansing, Michigan. Because leaving Taiwan meant leaving her certifications behind, Marie had to start anew. After working briefly as a nurse’s aide at a care facility, she started taking classes at Lansing Community College. Unable to work as a physical therapist, she continued working during this time as a physical therapy aide.

In November 1983, seeking more space to call their own, she and Chris bought a house in Davisburg. A year and a half later, they welcomed their only child, Alexandra, who went on to earn a PhD and – in her mother’s spirit – have a successful career of her own as a college professor.

In fall 1985, Marie transferred to Oakland University’s Physical Therapy program. The interviewer commented that, in his fifteen years in the role, she was the most interesting candidate he had ever encountered. Three years later, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy.

In a subsequent career that spanned thirty-six years, she worked for many different organizations: Holly Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Center, Physiotherapy Associates, Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital, Henry Ford Health Care, and McLaren Oakland—often concurrently. Everywhere she went, she made great friends, inspired patients, and impressed employers. She earned numerous accolades and, through the years, treated more or less everyone in Oakland County who suffered from back pain: doctors and their families, friends and neighbors, family members (pro bono, thankfully), and at one point, the CEO of her company. For many years, she worked three jobs, seven days a week: weekdays at a clinic, weekends at the hospital, and home care in the evenings. She would happily have continued this but was forced to cut back to five days a week when, due to corporate mergers, POH and McLaren came under the same ownership. She never retired.

Marie absolutely loved being a physical therapist. She often said that she would do it for free, that the money was just a bonus. She would sometimes reflect on how blessed she was to have found a career that she was good at and which she never tired of. Patients loved her, and she loved them.

Despite her demanding work schedule, she made time for other pursuits. Her passion for health and physical fitness was not just occupational but personal. She jumped rope every morning and did self-assigned PT exercises religiously – and she exercised even through her pregnancy, stopping only three days before she went into labor. She was so fit that she walked out of the delivery room with a yawn and a baby.

She even managed to make time for hobbies. She always loved crafting. She sometimes reminisced about fashioning shoes from tires and hackey sacks from newspapers and coins. Throughout her life, she took a variety of classes: She learned how to sew the qipao, a traditional Chinese dress; she learned Chinese embroidery; she took cake decorating and stained-glass community ed courses. She decorated greeting cards and photo albums with love and whimsy. But most of all, she loved to cook and to garden. Her desk was always covered in recipes hastily jotted down from her favorite cooking shows, while the kitchen was seasonally covered in dirt and vegetables she had grown.

In many ways, Marie lived the American dream. She began life in poverty as a political refugee and ended it as an American citizen with a loving family, an enormously successful career, a house with a yard, and a Costco membership.

In early 2023, she was diagnosed with lymphoma. With Chris by her side, she successfully underwent a full course of chemotherapy, continuing to work for much of that time and returning to work afterward, but she passed away after an aggressive relapse. Her tragic loss is felt by all who knew her. But those whose lives were touched by her will remember her boundless dedication, energy, and passion.

A memorial service will be held on January 17, 2025, 5:00 pm–8:00 pm, at The Shop on Elm in Holly, Michigan. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marie Cheng-Yi King Scholarship for Physical Therapy, an annual scholarship established in her honor that will provide financial support for Oakland University physical therapy students. https://bit.ly/KingScholarship