Philip Choong's Obituary
Philip Tsi-Shien Choong 鍾賜賢, PhD, of Los Altos Hills, California passed away peacefully on April
23, 2024.
Phil was born on August 16, 1944 to Paul Shin Piaw Choong 锺盛标 and Eunice Yu Lan Choong 陈
玉兰 in Kunming 昆明, China, the second of five children. He was raised in Taiwan and Singapore,
attending Singapore Hwa Chong Institution 新加坡华侨中学 before immigrating to the United
States at the age of 17 to earn a BS in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University and an
MS and a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the MassachuseMs Institute of Technology (MIT). He
met his wife, Hsia, at MIT and were married in 1971. Phil and Hsia moved to San Jose, California
in 1973 where they settled in Los Altos Hills, worked and raised three children.
During his decades-long career as a certified professional engineer, Phil worked at General
Electric, Rasor Associates and Lockheed Martin. He had an acumen for real estate investment
and earned his Realtor’s license to enable him to acquire multiple rental properties across the
Bay Area. Phil was a life-long learner with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. He was always
up to date on cutting edge science and technology and world affairs including Chinese foreign
policy. He was an avid tennis and ping pong player.
After retirement in 2005, Phil and Hsia pursued philanthropic endeavors to promote education of
the next generation of young scientists and engineers. They set-up the Choong Hsia Foundation
锺夏基金, establishing multiple scholarships and made contributions to several educational
institutions in the US as well as China and were especially active with Peking University 北京大学,
Sun Yat-Sen University 中山大学 ，and Jinan University 暨南大学. They enjoyed many trips to Asia,
including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, to develop and support their educaton and
scholarship programs.
Phil loved his family, and watching his three children become successful adults and his six
grandchildren grow up brought great joy to him. He will be missed by his family and community.
Phil is survived by his wife, Hsia Shaw-Lwan Choong 夏晓峦; his children, Ingrid Choong 锺嘉音 (m.
Dean Dragoli), Yvonne Choong 锺嘉韻 (m. Joel Riphagen), and Kevin Choong 锺嘉麟 (m. Katie
Heyl); and his beloved grandchildren Jack Dragoli 锺尚杰 (21), Charlie Dragoli 锺尚理 (16), Arie
Riphagen 锺尚瑞 (17), Henry Riphagen 锺尚恒 (13), Emmett Choong 锺尚德 (3) and Penelope
Choong 锺尚玫 (3 mo). He is also survived by his siblings, Miriam Wu 锺梅玲， James Choong 锺
赐俊, Grace Leung 锺佳燕 and Steve Choong 锺赐平.
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