Sheh-gni Tsai's Obituary
Sheh-gni Tsai Resident of Fremont Sept. 1, 1933 – Aug. 16, 2013 Sheh-gni Tsai passed away peacefully early Friday morning at Stanford Hospital. He was a quiet, gentle soul who touched those closest to him. Sheh-gni was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan and raised in Taipei, Taiwan as the eldest of five children. He graduated from National Taiwan University with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Anthropology in 1962. He then came to the US to study at Columbia University. After receiving an MS in Library Sciences at Columbia, he moved to Provo, Utah and worked as a librarian at Brigham Young University while studying Sociology. Subsequently, he returned to the East Coast and furthered his advanced studies in Political Sociology at the City University of New York Graduate Center. In addition to being well-educated, Sheh-gni taught linguistics at a university in Taipei, Taiwan, ran his own bookstore in San Francisco, taught in Fremont and Union City, and was a librarian at the California Academy of Sciences and SF Chinatown. He was generous in donating to important causes and passionate about leaving the world a better place for future generations. Sheh-gni will be most remembered as a devoted son, loving husband, and caring father. In 1969, he drove his parents Intang and Szemei Huang Tsai across the US continent, providing his artist father the opportunity to tour the great American landscape and produce numerous sketches and paintings along the way. After the passing of his father, he put all his efforts into collecting his father’s art works and organizing Tsai Intang’s Centennial Exhibition at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. Even as his health declined, Sheh-gni spent many hours with his mother, who still resides in Fremont. He and his wife, Shu-mei were married for nearly 40 years and together raised three children. He instilled in his children a sense of intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning. In his later years, he enjoyed traveling to different regions of the world with his wife. Sheh-gni is survived by his loving wife Shu-mei of Fremont, devoted daughter Chen-chen of Fremont, devoted sons Sze-lung of Fremont and Sze-jun of Menlo Park, daughter-in-law Christine of Menlo Park, and grandson Brendan of Menlo Park. He is also survived by his brother Bill Tsai, his sisters Julia Liu, Rushe Yang Tsai, and Julie Lin, and his mother Szemei Huang Tsai. His tender, generous spirit will be missed by all who knew him. Friends and family are invited to a memorial service on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at Skylawn Memorial Park, Hwy 92 at Skyline Blvd., San Mateo, CA 94402. Burial to follow at Skylawn.
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