Birth date: Sep 13, 1963 Death date: May 16, 2019
Winnie Yingyi Kao, beloved wife, daughter, sister, and auntie, died on May 16th. She was 55 years old. She was born September 13, 1963 in Hong Kong, and lived in California since 1977 when her family moved here. After attending Pe Read Obituary
Winnie, thinking of you as I look back on our campus life at UCB and our collaboration at CAAEN through IBM and HP. Wishing you a happy day in heaven and all the best.
I first saw Winnie some 42+ years ago during morning assembly when we were in neighboring classes at St Mary’s in Hong Kong. Her large eyes and high twin pig tails caught my eyes. She was happy and active. We never talked much, because she left for the States shortly. Years passed, somehow we ran into each other in the Bay Area. Since she and I are rare women electrical engineers, we quickly became friends, sharing stories from the past, present and foretelling what the future would be like. We did fun things like trying out restaurants. But she was far more adventurous than me. She told me one day she would be going bungee jumping in some dare devil place that I now forgot the name of. Fast forward, Winnie and I were brushing up our skills at playing GO in her mom’s home. Neither of us had played it more than once or twice before. Winnie had been in cancer treatment for about two months. She was tired, lost weight and could not walk. We played for quite a while, like 45 minutes. She actually beat me at the end. Her intelligence, will power and good spirit were apparent. Fast backward – it was May 1st. Winnie was no longer in treatment. We just felt every visit was a precious visit. I noticed her mental alertness did not diminish a bit. We brought her out of bed to sit at the dining table. She told me the roses were from her big sister-in-law when I casually commented how lovely and large they were. Winnie never ceased to amaze. Then I gave her about 3-4 shallow spoonfuls of avocado cucumber puree – a detox recipe I had acquired for my husband’s own cancer treatment. She opened her mouth to taste, even though she was so tired. She was not eating it because she was hungry but because she was appreciative. Winnie always put everyone else above herself. I am so sad to see Winnie gone way too soon. My fond memory of her is that she was intelligent, adventurous, possessed sheer will power, always eager to learn something new, try something new, never ceased to amaze, appreciative and always put everyone else above herself. I hope her spirit lives on among all of us and she is at peace in the universe, looking for her next adventure.
