Shew F. Eng

Shew F. Eng, a fiercely independent and vibrant retired seamstress, passed away on September 25, 2026 at the age of 87 at Jersey City Medical Center.

A Chinese immigrant, Eng raised her four children with her late husband, Henry, in Jersey City, where they owned a little laundry shop on MLK Drive, formerly Jackson Avenue, next to the old Dairy Queen. She also worked as a seamstress in Union City, Hoboken, and New York.

Eng grew up in Canton, China. Despite limited means, she was able to attend high school. She later fled to Hong Kong during China’s turbulent times before the Cultural Revolution. In Hong Kong, Eng worked and lived in a bead factory along with many other Chinese refugees. She later met her husband and immigrated to the United States, living first in New York City, then Bayonne, before settling in Jersey City. Together, they had four children, Nancy, Anna, Don, and Lily.

Though she worked long hours as a seamstress, Eng took evening ESL classes as well as naturalization classes, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1971. The family celebrated her citizenship by frying hot dogs in a wok for lunch and eating them with Wonder Bread.

Beloved by her many friends in New York’s Chinatown and Journal Square, Eng had a robust social life, taking her children to Chinatown every weekend to shop for groceries and eat dim sum. Simple shopping excursions, however, would often turn into marathon reunions with new and old friends.

Eng didn’t cook a lot, but she made exceptional Joong, sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves, which took many hours and many ingredients to prepare. She would take the Joong to work, where she and her colleagues swapped them and shared recipes.

Later in life, Eng and her friends would frequent McDonald’s for coffee, a bite to eat, and good conversation. She also loved watching horse racing, tennis, and soccer on TV. She had a particular passion for harness racing and enjoyed learning about the horses as well as their jockeys.

Both frustrated and fascinated with her Apple phone, Eng loved to count her walking steps and bragged about how much distance she could cover in one day. She also loved the weather app.

Over the past two years, Eng valiantly fought breast cancer, yet charmed her medical teams in Morristown and Jersey City with her gentle demeanor. She did not like needles, but she always found time to ask the nurses about their families and enjoyed seeing photos of their children. She sent cookies and candy to the teams to thank them for taking care of her.

Eng is survived by her four children; her granddaughter, Amy; and her children’s spouses, Andy Hom, Nelson Wong, and Maria Germinario.

Services will be held privately at Arlington Cemetery.