Inducted in 2011
Volunteer, U.S. Peace Corps

Induction Video

Born on October 10, 1985, Joseph Lawrence Hai-Sung Chow, the son of Raymond, a physician, and Donna, a patent attorney, was a native of Scarsdale and a 2003 graduate of Fordham Prep.  Moreover, he had not arrived at Rose Hill's gates for the first time in September of 1999 without a solid Maroon legacy behind him: his great-grandfather, William Robinson, was a member of the historic Class of 1917.

During his Shea Hall years, he was known by his friends as “The Machine” because of his prowess in the pool — but that was not the only tag he acquired during his time at the Prep. His friends also dubbed him “The Fiercest Competitor,” “The Most Polite Guest,” “The Smartest” and “The One with the Best Sense of Humor.”

Joe would probably deny or dispute all of them — because, of course, he was also “The Most Humble.”

According to his mother, Donna Robertson-Chow, Joe’s initial transition to the Prep was a bit choppy. It reached a low point one afternoon when she arrived to pick him up and discovered him getting the worst of a fist-fight with a classmate. Both boys were called in by Dean Bott, today a fellow Hall of Honor inductee, to discuss the episode. As is often the case, Joe and his classmate soon became close friends. By his mother's reckoning, it was something about Fordham Prep that made this reconciliation possible. But it must have been something about Joe, too, for in the words of a fellow Prepster, Joe was simply “the sincere, compassionate and humble friend that we all came to know and love.”

A pugilist he was not, but an outstanding varsity swimmer he was. A friend and fellow Aquaram described being in the same heat of the 500-meter in a championship meet with Joe. For the friend, qualifying for the championship and the heat with Joe was a bit of a fluke for him, a weaker swimmer. He swam harder than he had ever swum, because he had promised Joe he would beat him. When he finished, a hand reached into his lane to help him out of the pool. It was Joe, who said, “Nice swim!,” noting what a good time his friend had clocked. Joe, who won, did not mention that the heat was a personal best for him.

Joe also played tennis for two years at the Prep, and was a member of the Fordham Prep Speech & Debate Team. These were the years before speech and debate had been revived at the Prep and regained the national prominence it had enjoyed decades before. At one point, Joe was the only member of the team. Did he quit? No — that would not have been his style.

Chow excelled academically at the Prep, and he was always willing to help those who lagged. A fellow classics student (a year behind Joe at the Prep) once recalled an encounter on Metro North one morning as he struggled with his Greek homework: “While I was what might be charitably termed an indifferent student, Joe was already excelling in Greek II, and was eager to extend a helping hand. He was amused to revisit the freshman curriculum, and he spoke avidly about his passion for classics as we cycled through flashcards. But beyond being bright," he continued,  "Joe was generous of spirit and motivated by a deep desire to help others. Joe Chow was mature enough to be vocal about his passions, and he inspired peers and classmates to do the same. I felt charged and encouraged by this encounter, one of the many instances in which Joe inspired someone to be better....He sought out the best in others and gave the best himself,”

After graduating from the Prep, Joe attended Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he majored in chemistry and Renaissance history, joined the varsity swimming team and played water polo for the college. He was an active member of student government and the Newman Society. He often played the organ at campus masses.

When Joe graduated from Amherst College in 2007, however, he really took the idea of being a  “Man for Others” to heart. In November of that year, he was sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer. Joe's family already had a long association with the Corps; his aunt had served in the Philippines, as did his cousin. Joe’s family shared the essay he wrote in support of his Peace Corps application, and this portion describes how his experience at the Prep molded him

To a large degree I was shaped by my high school, a Jesuit boy’s school which chose as its motto the phrase, "A Man for Others." All of its students had to perform community service in order to graduate, and I spent several weekends at a hospice for terminal cancer patients. In college, however, classes and work limit my time and I have not reached out as much as I would have liked. The service aspect of the Peace Corps is also important for me, and I hope to be more than a traveler in whichever country I work in.

He moved to Ndalat, Kenya, where he taught chemistry and physics at St. Clement Secondary School. The academic help that he shared with classmates while at the Prep bloomed into a great gift for teaching. In a way, he served as an ambassador for Fordham Prep when he arranged for book donations from the Prep to be brought to his students in Kenya. By the reports of his family and friends, he dazzled members of the clergy and congregation when he played Bach on an organ that had been silent for three decades.

“When I first heard that Joe would be joining the Peace Corps after Amherst, I grew confused. A future doctor with all the God-given talent in the world would be deferring his dreams to go on a journey to Africa,” recalled a friend. “After reflecting on [Joe's] decision three years later, I think my confusion rested not with his decision, but with my own indifference. Several of us contemplated the Peace Corps as an option, but only one of us followed through. And not only did Joe follow through, he thrived, changing the lives of everyone he met while teaching [there],” he added.

There was another superlative that Joe’s friends sometimes used when talking about him: “Most Willing to Give.” In early 2008, the Peace Corps program in Kenya was suspended because of political instability and the threat of violence. He could have returned home at this point, but again, quitting would not have been his style. Undeterred, Joe volunteered to take a position in Tanzania.

Moving to the Mtwara region of southern Tanzania, Joseph began teaching chemistry and college-level math and physics at the Ndanda Secondary School. He gave swimming lessons to his Tanzanian students and also worked out with the school’s cross-country team. His additional community service included starting an after-school health club and community theater, organizing HIV testing and counseling, and raising HIV/AIDS awareness by spearheading a 5-K race. He also learned to speak Swahili, the official language of Tanzania.

Scheduled to complete his Peace Corps service in November 2009, Joseph planned to attend medical school.

Joseph Chow died on September 22, 2009 in a rock climbing accident near the village of Mbuji , in the Ruvuma region of southern Tanzania.  Joe was survived by his parents and his younger brothers, Daniel and Kyle.  Rev. Stanley O’Konsky, SJ, of the Prep faculty presided at his funeral.

In September 2011, Joseph was honored along with other Peace Corps volunteers who died during their tenures of service at ceremonies marking the fiftieth anniversary of the organization. His brother Kyle, Prep Class of 2008, delivered Joe's eulogy to a crowd of 5,000 people in Arlington National Cemetery.

Joseph Chow’s was a life lived ad majorem Dei gloriam — for the greater glory of God. He was courageous, fearless, and embraced life with exuberance.