Eva Ta-Ching Wu's Obituary
Eva Ta-Ching Wu (王大菁) was born on July 7, 1938 in Changsha (長沙), China. She grew up with an older brother, five younger brothers, and one younger sister. Her father (王裕培) was a colonel in China’s Nationalist Army in charge of telephone & telegraph communications systems and later worked for the retired veterans administration. Her mother (毛白君) was a housewife who also taught in elementary school. Life proved difficult when she was very young as China was in the midst of its civil war, and her family had to move many times as fighting raged. When she was eleven years old, her family settled in Taiwan with the rest of the Nationalists. She attended Taiwan Provincial Taipei Second Girls' High School (臺灣省立臺北第二女子中學). After high school, she attended Soochow University (東吳大學), graduating in June 1961 with a business degree. After college she worked in the Customs Agency of Taiwan. In April 1962, Eva was introduced to James Wu (吳傳祥) via his college friend’s wife. After dating for just a few months, they knew they were meant to be together, so on September 8, 1962, they got married. Shortly after their honeymoon in late October of that year, he shipped off to sea, and by the time he came back home, their first son, Sandy, was already five months old. Their second son, Louis, was born in 1965, and their youngest son, Ben, was born in 1969. In 1974 at the age of 36, Eva and her children immigrated to the United States so that their children could receive better education and opportunities. Her husband stayed in Taiwan to provide financial support but visited his family as often as possible. This arrangement proved hard on everyone, but they were willing to do so, thus providing a brighter future for their children. Despite not knowing much English, she tenaciously worked hard to support her family. Eva took English classes at a nearby community college and successfully worked in accounting, payroll, human resources, and management in both private companies and public agencies. At one point, she and her husband even purchased and ran an Orange Julius franchise in Berkeley. She retired as the Oakland Fire Department’s Administrative Services Manager in December 2006. Eva enjoyed her retirement by spending time with her extended family and friends, hiking with her hiking group, swimming at the local pool, and traveling extensively around the world with family and friends. Eva was exceptionally well-traveled. She traveled widely throughout North America, Central America, South America, Australia, Europe, India, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia. She spoke Mandarin Chinese, Sichuan Chinese dialect, Fujian Chinese dialect, and English. Eva fiercely advocated for and was generous to her family. She always strived to help advance and support her children and grandchildren whenever possible. Eva was proud that she raised her children to become successful in the fields of medicine, law, and technology. She prided herself on growing her prized orchids that bloomed beautifully. After her husband passed away in 2019, she became more dependent on her kids as she missed her husband of 57 years immensely. Every day, Eva would spend her early evenings at her son Ben’s house for dinner and a walk while her sons, Louis and Sandy, often visited her for lunch and many weekends. She often reflected back on her life and felt truly blessed to have lived such a happy, fortunate, full, and satisfying one. Sadly, Eva contracted pneumonia and passed away peacefully at Kaiser Oakland Hospital on March 3, 2024 at the age of 85 surrounded by family. Right before she passed, a very large rainbow appeared outside her window, and we were comforted by its appearance. Eva is survived by sons Sandy, Louis, and Ben (wife Anna); and grandchildren Jessica, Michael, Ali, Jonathan, and Stevenson Wu. She will be buried next to her husband in historic Mountain View Cemetery next to Piedmont, California where she lived for decades. She will be sorely missed.
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