Ting-Ju Chiu

Ting-Ju Chiu (“TJ”), 88, of Houston, Texas (formerly Charlotte, NC) passed away on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. He was born February 22, 1929 in Wenling, Zhejiang Province, China, and attended the National Defense Medical Center in Shanghai. In 1949, he moved with the school to Taipei, where he graduated from the National Taiwan University with a degree in engineering. He married Grace Sun in 1959, and they had three children. In 1972, he and his family moved to Charlotte, where he worked as a chemical engineer for R.H. Bouligny Inc., a part of Rowe Corp. After retirement, he and Grace moved to Houston in 1993.

TJ is survived by Grace, his wife of 58 years, son Jonathan Chiu of Houston, daughter Julie Chiu and her husband Victor Ho of Charlotte, daughter Charlotte and her husband Dan, and grandchildren Brandon Ho, Emily Ho, Dan, Ben, and Frank Chiu. The family celebrated his life with friends on May 5, 2017 at Earthman Southwest Funeral Home in Houston.

Growing up in the coastal village of Wenling, TJ loved the ocean and all types of seafood. He travelled extensively, including family car trips, for business, and much leisure travel after he retired. At home, he enjoyed growing fruits and vegetables (especially papayas, persimmons, and tomatoes), played tennis for decades (including after his remarkable recovery from a stroke in 2007), and was a life-long bridge player (who read the bridge column in the local newspaper).

Always an optimist, TJ did his best wherever he was, and never complained. He was a loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend. His was a life well lived. Being a gardener, he knew that to everything, there is a season. We will miss him, and he will always live in our hearts.