Cheng, Karyn's Obituary
Karyn January Cheng, of Oakland, CA, passed away at the age of 48 on December 15, 2024. The first child and daughter of Stephen and Kang (K.C.), Karyn was born in Boston, MA and grew up in Darnestown and Potomac, MD. She showed incredible talent from a young age at piano, writing, and arts. She attended MIT as an undergraduate, majoring in biology and minoring in writing, where she won awards for her creative writing. She went on to earn her M.D. from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, and made the city her home for many years. In medical school, her mother gifted her a cat, Peekaboo, who saw Karyn through many moves and life changes. Karyn used her medical knowledge to work successfully as a consultant for firms including the Gerson Lehrman Group, Egon Zehnder, Spencer Stuart, and most recently, Google Ventures. For several years in both Boston and New York, she was active in her local church, and made many lifelong friends through her faith.
Karyn moved to Oakland, CA in 2014 where she enjoyed the Bay Area in trips up and down the coast including ones to her favorite place, Sea Ranch, with her beloved West Highland White Terrier, Mylo, and later, Maisie. Karyn was a core member of the dog community wherever she lived, but also through social media where she bonded with many other dog owners. She always had the best homemade treats and the best pets for any dog around. Karyn was a dedicated volunteer for Meals on Wheels, and would often bake special cookies and cakes for her MoW family.
After her mother passed in 2008, and her father in 2021, Karyn showed strength and resilience despite her grief. She endured difficult times in her life, but always remained a fighter, and could always see the beauty in nature, in art, and in cute baby animals. She was an active birdwatcher and gardener, taking after her late father. She loved the ballet (going to see The Nutcracker every Christmas was a longstanding tradition), opera, theater, and curling up with a good book.
Karyn loved cooking and food (especially dessert, having inherited her sweet tooth from her father), wine, and a tasty cocktail. She was a strong advocate of local businesses and could always be relied on to know the best mom-and-pop shop to get Taiwanese breakfast, or the best hole-in-the-wall bar to get a Greyhound. She was an amazing craftsperson and converted the dining room in her home into a craft room where she sewed.
Among the things she made were clothes and quilts for herself, friends, and friends’ children, as well as mouse and bird figurines that she would leave at her parents’ gravesites during her
regular visits to honor them. If Karyn was your friend, she always remembered your birthday and would send you carefully chosen or handmade cards written in her meticulously neat handwriting.
Karyn lived her life with an energy, strength and conviction that few people have. She is survived by her little sister, Christine (Christy) of Brooklyn, NY, cousins, aunts, uncles, and a deep network of friends around the world.
Karyn will be laid to rest in the Faith section of Skylawn Memorial Park in Half Moon Bay, CA, near her parents and grandparents on what would have been her 49th birthday, January 31, 2025.
Donations in Karyn’s honor can be made to SOS Meals on Wheels (https://www.sosmow.org/).
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