Shun-hua Tsai Wang 王舜華 passed away on July 7th, 2020 around 8AM in her own home in Ellicott City, MD. Shun-hua was survived by her daughter Christine Wang, son in-law Mac Wang; by her granddaughters Vicky Wang and Wendy Wang Pisa and their respective husbands James Yao and Michael Pisa; by her great grandchildren Alexa, Dylan and Ada.
She was born in Shanghai in the year of 1927 from a Manchurian family. She grew up on the Yuyuan Road in Shanghai attending a Catholic school. Shun-hua was born an only child and was beloved by her parents. Her father passed away when she was 10 years old. For the majority of her childhood she grew up with her mother and the maternal side of her family. Her mother sent her to Taiwan in 1949 when she was 21 thinking it was just a temporary separation that would protect her from the civil unrest after the Communist Party took over China. Neither of them expected to be parted from each other for the rest of their lives. Shun-hua always had a picture of her mother on the wall no matter where she moved to.
On the ship to Taiwan she met her future in-laws who were fleeing from Nanjing and shortly after she travelled to Taiwan she married the family’s youngest son, who was still 11 years older than her. Her only child was born when she was 23. In her new land she started everything from scratch including learning to be part of this new family from Nanjing. She learned to adapt to her new family while learning the Taiwanese culture. She also learned to sing Peking Opera while her husband played the Er hu instrument in the band. Her favorite Taiwanese food was the Oyster Vermicelli Noodles and she enjoyed making ice cream soda (like root beer float but with sprite) for her grandchildren.
She survived many hardships with her husband including heart attacks in her early 40s. Before her retirement she was a librarian at the National Central Library. She lived in Taiwan for 52 years until her daughter uprooted her again in 2001 to the United States. Since she moved here to the United States she looked forward to every family gathering where she could see her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She had her unique ways of calling her great-grandchildren, Alexa was “Alasa”, Dylan was “Ah-Di”. Her favorite pastime was watching Peking Opera on TV. She felt most comfortable when she could speak her mother tongue Shanghainese around people. While she lived in the United States she loved going to the mall and shopping for discounted clothings, sometimes for herself and often for her daughter and granddaughters. She loved her seafood so living in Maryland was a true blessing.
Shun-hua Tsai Wang lived a full life, crossing oceans, embracing new cultures and customs with openness and understanding. She will always be remembered as a loving and fiery lady with the strength of steel and heart of gold.
At this time, all services are private.
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