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Sister Prisca Hui, SNJM
Sister Mon-Ching
January 8, 1937 – April 14, 2026
Sister Prisca Hui, SNJM departed this life on April 14, 2026 in Tualatin, Oregon.
Sister Prisca celebrated 89 years of life and 66 years of her religious profession.
A Mass of Resurrection will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in the Chapel of the Holy Names in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Her burial will follow at Holy Names Cemetery in Marylhurst, Oregon.
Sister Prisca Mon-Chin Hui, SNJM
January 8, 1937 – April 14, 2026
Sister Prisca Hui, SNJM, 89, died on April 14 in Tualatin, Oregon. The Mass of Resurrection is Tuesday, May 19 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel of the Holy Names, Marylhurst, Oregon. Burial follows at nearby Holy Names Cemetery.
The first born child of Joseph Hou Kee Hui and Teresia Shui Ying Tam, Prisca was born in Hong Kong. The night before her birth her father dreamt that they would have a girl and he named her Mon-Ching which means “dreams come true.” Because of World War II, the family relocated to mainland China returning to Hong Kong afterwards and later living for a time in Macau.
Both Prisca’s parents were well educated and spoke English, which was very unusual for the times, especially for her mother. Their own educational opportunities supported her parents’ goals for Prisca and her siblings. Her mother in particular shaped Prisca’s educational outcomes by hiring tutors to assist her in keeping Prisca’s education on track despite the challenges of war.
Having felt the call of religious life from an early age, Prisca looked to enter a religious community following her graduation from high school in 1957. She hoped to join an international community, but due to irregularities regarding Church law at the time of her parents’ marriage because her father was not Catholic, she was told by her spiritual director that a pontifical community could not accept her. Her next choice was a diocesan Chinese order, the Sisters Announcers of the Lord, founded by an Italian bishop whose order, the Salesians, Prisca liked and admired.
Because of her level of education, language skills and English fluency which in the Chinese tradition of the times the other Sisters in her Community did not have, Prisca was soon moved into leadership positions both in educational institutions and her religious community. As a Junior Sister, she was asked to found her Community’s first high school which was dovetailed with the pursuit of a degree from Hong Kong University. She served for about ten years as a teacher and principal at the new school, Tak Nga. Following that, she became supervisor and principal of Our Lady of the Rosary College in Hong Kong.
Prisca also served the Sisters in major positions of community administration, including Novice Director, General Councilor and Mother General. Even with her positions of involvement, commitment and responsibility in her Community, there remained strains within the Community given her education that was so different from the traditionally raised Sisters in her Chinese sisterhood.
In 1979, Prisca went to Chicago to study Spiritual Leadership. This proved to be a deeply transformative and affirming time for her. The Chicago experience set her on a different path which eventually led to meeting the Sisters of Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.
After much prayer and discernment, Prisca began the process in 1988 of transferring to the Oregon province of the Holy Names Sisters. In 1991, she made her profession of vows as a Sister of the Holy Names.
As an SNJM, Prisca ministered within the Chinese communities of San Francisco and Portland as a social worker, parish minister and educator. She continued to deepen her spiritual life through traditional Chinese medicine and the Ascension program, a meditation form similar to centering prayer. She was known for generously sharing her culture and wisdom and as a woman of profound faith in God and humanity.
In her later years, Prisca spent several years in Hong Kong caring for her elderly mother before returning to the United States.
Prisca lived with a spirit of adventure and with a willingness to try new things and she welcomed new people into her life. She loved to travel and had close friends in Hong Kong, Toronto, Australia and up and down the west coast of the United States.
Prisca once wrote, “I cannot help but be amazed at the wonders that God has worked for me.” Like the name given her at birth, Mon-Ching, which means “dreams come true,” Prisca brought many dreams to fruition.
A vowed religious for 65 years, 37 of those years as a Holy Names Sister, Prisca is survived by her siblings, Catherine Chung, Therese Hui and Paul Hui, her nieces and nephews and the members of her religious community. Remembrances may be made to Sisters of the Holy Names, PO Box 398, Marylhurst, OR 97036 or online at www.snjmusontario.org/donate.