Tsun Shiang Hsiung's Obituary
Tsun-Shiang Hsiung (1906 – 2016)Captain Tsun-Shiang Hsiung, a longtime resident of San Jose, CA, passed away on August 28, 2016 at San Jose Regional Medical Center. He was one hundred years old.Captain Hsiung was born on April 9th, 1916 (lunar calendar) in Port Louis, Mauritius. When he was 6 years old, his father took him back to the hometown, Meixian, in Guangdong, China. In 1937, he graduated from Wusong Merchant Marine College in Shanghai, China. During the eight years of the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), he worked for various River Transportation Bureaus in south China. After the end of the war, he joined the China Merchants Steam Navigation Co. in Shanghai as Deck Officer, which marked the beginning of his 34-year long career on the high seas. He was granted the Sea Captain license in 1955, and started working for Marine Transportation Lines in New York in 1958. He was Captain abroad large cargo ships, including a new collier S.S. Nagano that set the record for cargo tonnage passing through the Panama Canal in 1963, and several supertankers that transported crude oil from the Middle East to US and other countries. In 1976, Captain Hsiung joined the Evergreen Marine Corp. and was Captain of several new container ships sailing between Japan and United States. He retired from sailing in 1978 but continued working as Port Captain in New York City until 1982. Throughout his career, he visited numerous seaports and major cities in all continents except Antarctica.In 1940, Captain Hsiung met and married Ah-Hwa Yang in Guangdong. They started a family, and had one son and four daughters. His family relocated to Taiwan shortly before the Communist takeover in China in 1949. He worked very hard at sea far away from home in order to provide the family an upper-middle class living. He was able to send all five children to US to pursue advanced studies after they graduated from elite colleges in Taiwan. Two of them earned Ph.Ds. and three obtained master’s degrees.In 1986, Captain Hsiung and his wife settled in San Jose, California and lived a peaceful retirement life together for 27 years before his wife passed away in 2013. They loved gardening, planting many flowers and fruit trees in their small yard. The children and grandchildren visited them often. They enjoyed traveling, toured attractions in continental US, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, and visited relatives in China, Taiwan and Thailand.Captain Hsiung is survived by his four daughters, eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. While he is gone, his spirit is forever buried deep in the minds of his loved ones.熊尊祥 (1916 – 2016)熊尊祥船長，廣東梅縣人，二零一六年八月二十八日在北加州聖荷西醫院病逝，享年一百歲。熊船長於一九一六年農曆四月初九在印度洋中的毛里求斯島出生，六歲時隨父親返回故鄉中國廣東梅縣定居，他由南京東方中學畢業後進上海吳淞商船專科學校。在一九三七年日軍發動七七事變前畢業於駕駛科。八年抗戰期間在廣東及廣西航政局工作。在一九四零年, 熊船長和楊愛華在廣東結婚。抗戰勝利後, 熊船長進招商局派任光華輪二副, 從此開始航海生涯, 在招商局的船隊任職二副及大副。一九四九年八月, 全家隨招商局撤退台灣, 搬入台北羅斯福路二段的宿舍。他大半時間在船上工作, 運糖及其他貨物到東南亞的港口。 他於一九五五年通過考試取得船長證書。為了供給全家的更好生活, 在一九五八年由招商局外借美國泛大西洋公司。第一次外借整整四年沒有回家。一九六三年, 他飛日本任全新的五萬噸拿加諾輪的船長。拿加諾輪首航破了兩個當時的世界紀錄: 載煤礦最多的船和通過巴拿馬運河載貨最重的船。其後他担任十萬噸的超大油輪船長, 由中東運石油到世界各國。一九七六年台灣新成立的長榮海運公司邀請他任新貨櫃輪的船長, 在此後兩年間, 貨櫃輪每兩個月在新澤西港口靠岸, 住在美國東岸的妻子及四個女兒及孫子女都會上船相聚。熊船長在一九七八年下船, 結束了長達三十四年的航海生涯。但他受聘繼續在紐約市船公司辦公處任駐埠船長一直到一九八二年退休。 熊船長在一九八五年由臺灣移民美國和兒子同住舊金山灣區, 一九八六年搬到聖荷西的新屋。夫婦倆養花弄草, 種植蔬果, 並到處旅遊, 度過二十七年平靜安寧而美好的退休生活。女兒女婿及外孫子女們常來探望, 盡享天倫之樂。兒子不幸於二零零三年早逝。二零一三妻子過逝後, 三女兒及女婿搬來同住。熊船長現在己添了五個曾外孫子女。他一生勤奮工作，是兒女心目中偉大的慈父，孫兒女們敬愛的外公。他慈藹的音容笑貌在親人們的腦海中永存不減。 Wife: Ah-Hwa Yang Hsiung (熊楊愛華), deceased Son: Jaw-Huan (兆寰), deceased Daughters: Man-Li (曼莉), Mon-Li (孟莉), Irene (怡莉), and Lily (莉莉) Son-In-Laws: Yung-Wei Hsueh (薛永蔚), Shaw-Chang Chu (朱紹彰), Shao-Shiow Chang (張紹庥), and Chih-Man Hsu (徐質敏) Grandchildren and spouses: Gary Hsueh (薛昌昊) & Nicole Lampsa, Helen Hsueh (薛昌晏), Emily Chu (朱宇康) & Daniel Choi (崔錫恒), Andy Chu (朱宇安), Wendy Chang (張雯) & Matt Tracz, Betsy Chang (張雲), Vivian Hsu (徐蔚文), and Karen Hsu (徐凱文) Great grandchildren: Camden Hsueh (薛克玲), Gerrit Hsueh(薛克偉), Rylee Tracz (崔瑞里), Zella Tracz (崔琪菈), and Audrey Choi (崔裕真).
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