Chia-Hwa Tao

Chia-Hwa (Clem) Tao of Northville, Michigan passed away at the age of 90 on February 18, 2022 after losing his valiant battle against pneumonia.  Chia-Hwa to his family (or Clem to his friends and colleagues) was also valiant throughout his life with the courage to cross continents from wartime China to Taiwan, Canada and the U.S. to start anew many times to forge a rewarding life for his family.  He impressed everyone in his path with his affirming kindness, optimistic drive, and intuitive insights to guide family and friends with sage advice.

Chia-Hwa was born on April 28, 1931 in Shenyang, China; son of Shih-Cheng and Chen-Shih Tao and enjoyed his childhood as the youngest of five children in Beiping (now Beijing), China.  Chia-Hwa’s desire to help others started early as an 8-year-old boy helping his family by proudly rising at 5am to get an early spot in line for rationed food from Salvation Army distribution centers during the Japanese-occupation of Beijing during World War II.

At 18-years-old, Chia-Hwa decided he did not want to live in a Communist country when Beijing fell and had the courage to travel solo for three weeks from Beijing to over 1,600 miles south.  He used his street-smarts to keep finding ways to travel south amid crumbling wartime transportation services, first by train until the trains stopped running, then bus, truck, hitch-hiking, and finally walking across the DMZ to the democratic Nationalist Chinese side.  Chia-Hwa traveled further south to meet his older brother and then sent word to his two brothers in Beijing on how to make the trek south.  Together the four brothers, sister and their families re-settled in Taiwan, a free democracy.

Chia-Hwa was valiant in re-starting his life several times.  First, Chia-Hwa started his new life in Taiwan where he finished high school and tested into the prestigious National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1954.  Chia-Hwa was a natural leader offering motivation and guidance as the captain of the university men’s soccer team and student council president.  There in Taipei, as teens, Chia-Hwa met his future wife, Chung-Chuan (Susan) Yang, and together they made plans to re-start their lives in North America as graduate students.  They were each other’s first sweethearts and conducted their courtship all through their university years.  When Chia-Hwa earned a Graduate School scholarship to study half-a-world away at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, they kept their long-distance Taiwan-to-Canada courtship for three years before Chung-Chuan earned a graduate school placement at the University of Ottawa.

After earning his Masters in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University in 1958, Chia-Hwa and Chung-Chuan started their 50-year marriage in 1958 and had two children, Catharina and Winston.  Chia-Hwa, now known as Clem professionally, started his career in Canada as a Design Engineer at Acres International and Kimberly-Clark, and the family enjoyed both frontier wilderness and suburban Toronto experiences while living in Canada.  Clem’s career then took his family of four to the United States to start again in a new country, making new friends and new adventures while working as a Water Pollution Control Engineering Specialist for major global engineering consulting firms, Bechtel Corporation in New York and ABB Lummus Crest Inc. in New Jersey.  Clem earned his PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in Plasma Physics from City University of New York in 1970.

Because of his charismatic personality and understanding of people from many cultures, Clem had the ability to work with diverse groups of engineers.  This skill resulted in repeated requests for his work by foreign clients, which took him on adventures all over the world to Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia and Thailand.  Thanks to flight benefits from Susan’s job as a computer programmer for Pan American World Airways, Clem’s family took trips far afield in Asia, Europe and visiting relatives in Taiwan.  As the first of each of their families to settle in North America, Clem and Susan welcomed many family members into their home for brief stays to help them get started in the U.S.  With his children, Clem shared his passion for fishing, soccer, baseball (avid fan of NY Yankee pitcher, Ron Guidry), and woodworking (including a very dusty dinghy renovation), while living in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area for over 40 years.

In 1992 Clem decided to embark in a new direction and began Shin-Yeh Engineering (appropriately translating to ‘New Beginning’), an engineering consulting firm he operated until his retirement in 2008.  Clem enjoyed these years with Susan and was undaunted in his loving care of Susan when she was ailing for three years.  He enjoyed tutoring his friends’ young children in math.  Clem welcomed visits from his children and grandchild, including enjoying annual crab fishing ventures with his grandson, Matthew, off the New Jersey shoreline.

Chia-Hwa (Clem) re-started his life again after Susan’s passing when he married Chunyu Gao in 2010 and started a wonderful new life with Chunyu and her family.  Chia-Hwa diligently went on daily walks to the park and they enjoyed the beautiful views together.  It was a great joy for him to play with his step-daughter and step-son’s children, Justin and Heidi, making him feel younger and happier again.  He gladly helped Chunyu’s family on many fronts, from patiently teaching his step-daughter how to drive to helping the family navigate bureaucratic documents.  And while living in North Carolina, Chia-Hwa appreciated good Asian food and going to restaurants with his wife and family.  With a very hearty appetite, he enjoyed Chinese hotpot, Sichaun and Taipei restaurants, a low-key farmer’s market find with super-fresh seafood, and a favorite Mexican restaurant with an L-shaped corner booth where the children played in the corner (and couldn't escape).

At 90-years-old, Chia-Hwa led a vibrant life, smiling and laughing at his own dry sense of humor, and full of energy thanks to his commitment to staying in shape with near-daily, brisk 20-30 minute walks in all seasons.  He exuded the high character qualities of graciousness and caring that is more prevalent in his generation.  His early wartime hardships forged an inner strength to always look forward with no regrets and to just savor the moment.  To each of his family and friends, he ended his last conversations in the hospital with a smile and said “see you tomorrow”.

Chia-Hwa (Clem) brought out the best in people.  He led by example and taught others how to build character, to act with honesty, respect, fairness, responsibility and to make the right choices.  Chia-Hwa was a true gentleman, polite and caring.  He was an outstanding father.  When his children were young, he took advantage of teachable moments and loved sharing experiences with them.  Chia-Hwa was a dedicated and admirable husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend.

He is survived by his wife Chunyu Gao; his children, Catharina (Eric) Milostan and Winston (Jessica) Tao; his stepdaughters, Mei Chen and Wei (Xin He) Chen; his sister Chia-Chin Tao; and his grandchildren, Matthew C. Milostan, Justin He, and Heidi He. Chia-Hwa was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife Chung-Chuan (Susan) Tao, and his brothers, Chia-Ju Tao, Chia-Lou Tao, and Chia-Shiang Tao.

To honor Chia-Hwa’s life-long support and thanks to the Salvation Army due to his boyhood days receiving Salvation Army food distributions in wartime Beijing, the family would appreciate, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the Salvation Army , 16130 Northland Drive, Southfield, MI 48075.