Born in 1935 in Nanking, China, Margaret was the fourth of eight children for her father, Cheng Kai-Ming, and her mother, Koo Sou-Feng. Her father was a General 1st Rank and Chief of the National Security Bureau of China. The family moved from China to Taiwan before the Chinese communist takeover in 1949.
Margaret graduated from National Cheng-Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, with a bachelor's degree in Chinese literature. She migrated to Canada in 1964 and graduated from the University of Ottawa with a master’s degree in library science.
During her college years, she began dating her childhood family friend, Augustine (Gus) Yuan, and, after an eight-year courtship, he finally convinced her to marry him. Margaret and Gus celebrated their wedding on 30 October 1965 in San Francisco. They eventually settled in Houston where she had an interesting and varied career that included librarian at Houston Baptist University, financial planner and owner of two small businesses. Her career culminated in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where she was an award-winning CEO of Jen-Ai’s Home, a large nursing care facility whose excellent management served as a model for other nursing homes in the area.
In Chinese, Margaret was aptly named “Mei-Xing,” meaning “beautiful heart” - her many friends and loving family members are strong testament to her generosity, kindness and willingness to help others. She always looked out for those less fortunate and was often the first person people would seek in times of need. It was rare that she would go out in public without running into at least one of her countless Houston-area friends. She had a life-long love of music, literature, crime dramas and mob movies and was renowned for her cooking and sewing skills and for her sense of humor.
Margaret was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Alex. She is survived by her husband, Gus, daughter, Alice, son-in-law, Marshall Bain, her cherished grandsons, Adam and Nathan, sisters, Martha, Madeline, Victoria and Martha (yes, there are two), and brothers, Michael and Ben, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Margaret was baptized into Catholicism during her high-school years and was a member of the Ascension Chinese Mission church.
We greatly appreciate and are touched by the outpouring of condolences and fond memories shared by friends and family during this difficult period. Due to risks associated with COVID-19, however, a memorial service will not be held at the present time. In her later years, Margaret gracefully endured complete paralysis from a degenerative nerve condition and the family requests that tribute gifts be made in her memory, if desired, to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation (www.christopherreeve.org/donate) to help others living with disabilities.
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