Paul Chen, of New Hyde Park, federal special agent and cofounder of networking group for Asians, dies at 75

Paul Chen cofounded a networking group for Asians in federal law enforcement, building upon his experience as one of the few Asian American special agents when he started in the 1970s with the IRS.

Under the Society of Asian Federal Officers, guidance was just a call away as Chen reared agents with career advice and field know-how, colleagues said. His breadth of knowledge, from money laundering to dirty bombs, spanned several agencies, because he also worked at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and led multiagency cases at the U.S. Customs Service before he retired in 2005 as senior special agent.

"What Paul and the others did was they saw there was a need for federal representation, if nothing else to come together to hear each other’s stories," said Yui Chow, the society’s president. "He gave Asian agents a home."

The New Hyde Park resident, who served as society president in 2003-04, was 75 when he died of Alzheimer’s disease on July 3.

Born in southern China’s Toisan city, Chen had bucked an old Chinese adage that says, "A good man does not join the police force," due to what some say had been the corrupt reputation of Hong Kong police, those who knew him said. His family had moved to Hong Kong when he was about a year old, one of his sons said, and when he was 3, he traveled with his older brother to join their father, who worked in a Chinese restaurant in New York.

Later, his father opened his own restaurant, where Chen, just a kid, had to help out, said son Chris Chen, a Nassau resident.

"He was in the hot kitchen washing dishes a lot," his son said.

His father told him he wanted life to be easier for each successive generation, his son said. "But don’t forget where everything came from and appreciate everything you have."

In his 20s, Paul Chen applied for a few federal jobs, attracted by their benefits. He was hired by the IRS, launching a 28-year-plus career that took him from the World Trade Center to Kennedy Airport.

He worked on a 1982 case that made headlines when federal agents found heroin valued at $70 million hidden in espresso coffee machines coming from Italy, one friend said. Shortly after 9/11, he volunteered to go to the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island to sift through debris for remains and terrorism evidence. Later, he was on watch at Kennedy Airport due to rumors that uranium hidden in thermoses was bound for Yemen to make a dirty bomb.

"He was very proud to be a senior special agent," Chris Chen said. "It was the pride of doing good for society."

Worked long hours

Co-workers considered him a levelheaded, go-to guy, said David Chan, who saw Chen as his mentor. "He was the master of making the deal. ... Some people lied to suspects; he tried to tell you the way it was. He was a straight shooter."

They also admired him for one notable trait — speaking truth to power.

"If something had to be said to a boss or if you were thinking something negative, Paul would come out and say it," said best friend Stephen Del Casino, a retired Customs special agent who worked with Chen for years. "He said what a lot of people were thinking but were afraid to say."

Chen worked long hours to provide for his wife and three sons, family and friends said. He did whatever he could for the family so that no one felt neglected.

"He would do one-on-one things with his kids, to have that special bond," Chris Chen said. "There was one year where he took me on a ski trip to Europe. It was just me and him."

In his retirement, he traveled, played golf, babysat his grandchildren and dined out with family, snapping up the checks, his son recalled: "He was always just looking after everyone."

Besides his son Chris, survivors include his wife, Ann Chen, of New Hyde Park; sons Scott, of New Hyde Park, and Evan, of Bethpage; brother, Nick, of Somerset, New Jersey, and five grandchildren.

A service was held July 12 at the New Hyde Park Funeral Home, followed by burial at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.