Heng Sheng Tao's Obituary
Heng-Sheng TAO, 86, went home to be with Lord Jesus on Monday, March 20th, 2017 at Alta Bates Summit Hospital in Oakland, California.
Heng-Sheng was born January 1st, 1931 in Shanghai, China. He graduated in 1953 with a Mechanical Engineering degree from National Taiwan University.
Over a 40 year career, he built or expanded 12 cement plants in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, United States, and Canada. He held positions including Vice President and Group Technical Director in large cement companies. In 1976, he was elected a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, U.K. Prior to his retirement he lectured at several cement factories in China and consulted on various public engineering projects in Taiwan.
After his retirement in 1997, he became a writer and published books entitled Kao Tao Incident (Taiwan and China), Rains and Coconut Trees (Hong Kong), Essays Overseas (Hong Kong), and contributed over 60 articles to various historical journals in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. In 2006, he translated Kao Chong-Wu’s 60-year-old unpublished English memoir Into the Tiger’s Den into Chinese, and published the book in Taiwan and China.
Heng-Sheng was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. He married his college sweetheart Teh-Shwan Liu in 1954 and they celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary on December 25th, 2016. They credit the longevity of their marriage to following the advice written on a scroll given to them as a wedding gift from Mr. Chang Chun, Secretary General to President Chiang Kai Shek:
Respect Each Other
Love Each Other
Forgive Each Other
Help Each Other
Heng-Sheng traveled around the globe for both business and leisure – his favorite cities included Bangkok, Venice, Shanghai, and Singapore. Although he loved to experience local cuisine in his travels, his absolute favorite dishes were ones cooked by Teh-Shwan when he was home. He also had a great passion for classical music and enjoyed relaxing to Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Chopin. He put his family first in all decisions and provided a great role model for them through his integrity, generosity, great sense of humor, and amazing work ethic. His grandchildren loved listening to his intriguing and humorous stories, and were incredibly proud of their tech-savvy Grandpa who could outdo any millennial! He loved all his dog children, especially his two Chihuahuas, Do Mei Mei and Chi Chi with whom he slept side-by-side every night.
Towards the end, as he struggled for his health, he taught all of us bravery, strength and perseverance, while maintaining a positive outlook on life.
Heng-Sheng is survived by: his wife, Teh-Shwan (Oakland, California), children and their spouses, Teh-Hsin and Joyce Too (Singapore), Jenny and Ho-Tong Fang (San Jose, California), Alice and Michael Hager (Carmel, Indiana), Ginny and Ross Sherwood (San Francisco, California), and grandchildren, Alan Wong (Carmel, Indiana), Tiffany Too (Los Angeles, California), Justin Fang (San Jose, California), and Michael Too (San Diego, California).
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to your local Humane Society for Animals.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 27 at 10:00 am:
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