Marian Thom, a dynamic force for Asian American causes and a founding member of the UFT Paraprofessionals Chapter, died on Sept. 4 after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 88.

“They don’t make them like Marian anymore,” said Seung Lee, who followed Thom as chair of the UFT Asian American Heritage Committee, which she founded.

Born in Chinatown, Thom followed the example of her Chinese immigrant widowed mother who, Thom said in an interview for the Museum of the City of New York, “passed on that you should always be helping people.” That philosophy led to her involvement with the UFT and other union endeavors, as well as community causes for everything from voter registration to women’s rights to the Cub and Boy Scouts.

“Marian was a dynamo,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said. “Go to a union event — she’s there. Go to a political event — she’s there. She was everywhere, fighting the good fight and encouraging others to do the same.”

Thom was a bilingual paraprofessional in New York City public schools for 36 years and helped to organize the Paraprofessionals Chapter.

“Because she knew the Chinese language, she was especially helpful in getting the paras who spoke the language to mobilize and join the UFT,” retired Paraprofessionals Chapter Chair Shelvy Young-Abrams said.

Thom also helped to organize the New York chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, where she was a longtime officer of the national chapter, and helped sign up farmworkers to join the United Farm Workers union in the early 1970s.

Just this past July, despite her illness, she traveled to Houston to receive the Living the Legacy Award at the AFT Convention for her 50 years of service.

“You could see by her efforts to get to Houston to receive it how important it was for her,” her son, Dewey Thom, said. “It was important to her to be able to see people she knew.”

Thom was perhaps best known for her years chairing the UFT Asian American Heritage Committee, where she created and directed the successful Lunar New Year banquet celebration that sells out every year.

Seung Lee said Thom urged Asian American Pacific Islanders to be part of the UFT because “people need to speak up and be visible, making sure to participate in the process and doing everything we can to make people’s lives better — which she did daily.”

Victoria Lee (no relation), the UFT treasurer and the union’s first Asian American officer, said Thom always served as an example for her.

“Marian was incredibly determined and fought hard to make sure that Asian American contributions were recognized and valued in our education system,” Victoria Lee said.

A breast cancer survivor, Thom also was active in raising money for the American Cancer Society.

The family created a memorial fund in Thom’s honor that was set up through the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.