Dear Chunlin,
We received the news of Mingfang's passing away yesterday, and we were deeply saddened by it. Please accept our deepest condolences to you and your family. We hope you remain strong and find peace in your heart at this difficult time.
Though our friendship was brief and we lost contact with each other (after we moved several times out of the U.S.), our memory of your family is vivid and always fill with sweetness. Stephanie was one of the first people who became Eugene's friend in kindergarten class in Fern Bluff Elementary School. And through their friendship, our two families later became friends too. The weekly Saturday morning soccer game was the happiest time we've had together (along with JingLu's and HongXia's families).  There was so much laughter and many silly mistakes from both teams, but the Best Player always went to little Brandon because nobody could take the ball away when it was in his possession.  When the children and fathers were fighting head to head, foot to foot, the cheerleading group (the mothers) often chatted or took walks together around the park. I remember Mingfang giggled a lot, and she always carried a smile on her face.  She spoke softly and gently even when she meant to complain about something; she had enormous warmth and kindness inside her. Her witty and humorous responds to my ranting of endless housework always managed to put a smile on my face. I'm truly lucky to have had her as my friend. And I'm grateful for the many laughs we shared together.
We will miss Mingfang. She will keep our hearts warm forever. 

Hugs,
Tuck & Chong Lee
(Singapore)

Dear Chunlin:  Thank you so much for sharing those beautiful words and memories about Ming.

For several years, I had the good fortune of working with Ming at Texas Education Agency. She was really smart, very kind, and always a pleasure to work with. My heart grieves at hearing the news of her passing. She will be greatly missed. All of Ming's family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers.

Dear friends, thank you all for your kind words.

Below is the speech I gave on Mingfang's memorial service on 9/10.
------

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, friends and family,


First of all, let me, together with my daughter Stephanie, my son Brandon, thank you for coming here to celebrate with us the life of my beloved wife Mingfang Wei.

Before I share with you the wonderful memories that Mingfang brought us, I would like to say this, I was the luckiest man to have such a precious woman in my life for 26 years.

Mingfang was born in the evening of the lantern (full moon) festival of 1970. Her name Mingfang means bright and fragrant, a name that I say is truly befitting. 

Mingfang went to Germany right after her 20th birthday by herself via the Oriental Express Train, armed with just one month of German language training from her own father, Prof. Wei. She managed to pass the college acceptance examinations (all in German) and became a full fledge college student in a couple of months. 

Not sure how many of you know about the 1989 Tiananmen Square student movement in China. As a consequence of that, as if it were meant to be, I was forced to give up my first option of coming to USA for my Ph.D. Well, I went for my second option, to Munich, Germany. It was nearly Christmas and I was invited by my dear friends Dr. Qi, and Dr. Junying (thank you both for flying in from Ohio on a short notice to         celebrate with us.   You two are very special to Mingfang and me, for the reason below) to their Heidelberg home to celebrate the holiday. Upon arrival, it was casually brought up that Xiao Wei (little Mingfang) will be there too. I was then reminded by Drs. that I was the one that asked them to help her when she first arrived in Germany. Here, I want to clarify the background of that. I was doing a German language crash course under Prof. Wei and agreed to write a letter asking for assistance for his daughter whom I never met.

Little did I know that I would meet the love of my life on Christmas day of 1990.  To this day, I still remember how awestruck I was when she first came through the door. Mingfang never answered my question about what her first impression of me was. But I think we later agreed that it was a mutual love-at-first-sight. BTW, she did not quite know how old I was. Later on, she asked that question, in a way that she thought I must be pretty old by the knowledge that I was already teaching at university before I came to Germany. We loved each other profoundly. We wrote each other many letters and visited each other almost every weekend. I would rename the autobahn A8 connecting Karlsruhe and Munich as the new romantic road (the real one runs from Wurzburg to Fussen). Yesterday, I read a few letters I wrote and Mingfang kept all these years, I felt I was writing them not reading them. With her being my girlfriend, I was living a fairytale. She was sweet, smart, kind, and beautiful. Everything was so picture-perfect. Everything in life was like once-in-a-lifetime wonder followed by yet another. I remember one time, I was on the way back to Munich from my weekend visit to my princess. It was a bright full moon night, and then By the Beautiful Blue Danube tune played on the radio while I was crossing that famous river. That image has stayed with me to this day.

Mingfang then transferred to University of Munich, continuing her study of Computer Science, after we were engaged. We made frequent trips in picturesque Bavaria, Alps regions. Mingfang loved the places like Garmisch-Partnenkirchen, Koenigsee, Chiemsee, Berchtesgaden, Passau, Oberammergau,  Neuschwanstein Castle, and many places in Munich. We also managed to visit some other places between our busy studies, like Strasbourg and Paris. One thing we later laughed often about is that we double exposed 4 out of 6 rolls of films during our visit in Paris. Mingfang helped me a great deal with my PhD work and enabled me to finished my degree in 2 and half years. She worked part time at Geva Institute as an assistant analyst to support us financially. One of the many things I remember was seeing her walking home with a small blue backpack full of groceries she just bought. While we were in Munich, we met our great friend, Prof. Dr. James who is also present here today. Thank you, James, for the great memories we created and shared while we were in Munich, and for flying here to reunite us one more time.

Mingfang gave up her opportunity of finishing her degree at the prestigious University of Munich and came over to North Carolina to join me and her parents and sister in Maryland. In Chapel Hill, we often walked btw campus and our apt hand-in-hand, sometime even on the railroad track that provides a short cut. We bought our first car and I taught her how to drive without a serious fight. While we were in Chapel Hill, we frequently visited her parent's house and other places around DC. When I got an offer to continue my post doctoral work at UT Austin, we drove from Chapel Hill to Austin, with a stop at our friends and my 8 year classmate and roommate, Dr. Shulong Li's house (thank you, Shulong and Xiaoxing for flying in from South Carolina to join us today. Our Alaska cruise together is just like yesterday). It was the first true long distance drive for us and all our belongings filled just the trunk and some of the back seat. It was exciting and we got to see quite a few interesting things along the way, including the Great Smoking Mountain (it was October 3rd, the fall foliage was breathtaking), and passing through state of Alabama with low fog waving over cotton fields under the crescent moonlight. 

Soon after we settled in the surprisingly green Austin, we got married. Since we did not know anybody other than Wuping and Jenny, we did not have a wedding ceremony. She never complained' about it. Our wedding night was spent on the road to El Paso to get our visa situation straightened out. I remember we had a pretty nervous night in Juarez, sillily worrying about our rental car parked outside of the hotel room. As my wife, Mingfang was caring and tender as ever and continued to support my work. One night I lost track of time in the UT JJ Pickle cleanroom, and found her knocking on the glass door. She took a taxi (I drove the only car we had) to the site to check on me (there was no cell phone back then). The worry and caring on her face I will never forget. While I was doing my post doc, Mingfang worked for IPC Technologies as an associate programmer, where she met our close friends Jenny and Wuping, who later on became our kids' Godmother and Godfather.

With my first industry job, we moved to Dallas in 1996. We were baptized and had our daughter Stephanie. We decided to buy the safest car for our baby. So we searched and went to a Ford dealership to ask whether they had a Windstar for sale. We felt very lucky that they actually had one, so we bought it at the sticker price and drove away in the minivan very happy. I asked Mingfang to drive the other car behind me with hazard lights on because that minivan looked oversized to me. While in Dallas, we met our great friends Jingke and Donghong who now live in Houston and are here today as well. Jingke and Donghong, Mingfang still remembered the adventurous trip we took together to Big Bend, tried to avoid the risk of being washed off to Rio Grande by the thunderstorm, I drove like crazy on state HWY 170, everyone was car sick, except the driver and baby Stephanie, and with electricity out, we had our dinner under the lightning.

After we moved back to Austin in 1998, we started planning to buy our first house. And we were also happy to reunite with another classmate of 8 years and now neighbor of almost 20 years, Haitao and Haiyan. We finally bought our first house in 1999 in Round Rock, for the great elementary school Fern Bluff for Stephanie. Mingfang learned how to cook and our food often attracted kids from next door. The three of us would commute from Round Rock to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Mingfang would always try to feed Stephanie something on the way. In 2002, our son Brandon was born. Stephanie was so proud of her little brother and she could not stop talking about him while mommy was still recovering. Mingfang would simply smile at her enthusiasm. One of the favorite things we liked to do is to take a walk in many of neighborhood parks, and jump on the trampoline filled with shredded paper. Together, we watched these two wonderful babies growing up. Now Stephanie is a honor student at UT-Austin (a second generation longhorn, a priceless decision as it turned out, she has stayed extremely close to mom during this difficult time. Had Stephanie opted to go to east or west coast, Mingfang would not get to see her precious daughter that often. There is no selfish act on Mingfang's part, Mingfang did encourage Stephanie to go to Johns Hopkins) and Brandon has started high school at Westwood on pre-IB. We traveled many places as a family and had loads of fun. We walked in the deep snow in Paris in the middle of night while the city was shut down in Mar 2013, we drove in the cloud to see volcanos in Hawaii, we raced each other on the street of London to see who is first to get to hotel room. We camped often with Tom and Sharon including that 27 degree fahrenheit night somewhere in east Texas (forgot where it was, just remember it was not warm). The favorite way of travel was me driving the whole family to places. We did that to Orlando twice with non-stop returns to home. We did that to Grand Canyon and many places around NM, Arizona, Utah. Mingfang's face was glowing when we were driving in Monument Valley. She really like that majestic scenery. When we were in our own car, everyone was relaxed and could chat freely and often came up with great lines. When we saw a bug on the GPS screen, I said to Mingfang, here is a lost bug looking for directions. When we were driving in Alaska and saw a black bear on the road, I teased Mingfang what do we do now?. She said lay face-down on the ground?, referring to the safety training we just received. 

Mingfang loved kids, she has a soft heart, it is just hard for her to say no. I can remember that the only few arguments we ever had in our 26 years together were about disciplining the kids. In hindsight, Mingfang was right most of time. Mingfang was a very nurturing mom, our neighbors remembered that Mingfang would walk along strollers and feed our babies while we were taking walks. One of the favorite things that mommy and Stephanie like to do is to play with the kids, referring to the 3 lovely kids of our close friends Wuzhi and Andrew. 

Mingfang was a caring mom, and she was also very passionate about her work, almost to a fault. She went back to work after her first chemo treatment, because she did not want to let anyone down. I have always said that she was like a good student, just try to get the homework done, no politics. She genuinely liked the people she worked with and made many friends. She had a dream of retiring happily from the state job where she had proudly worked for nearly 15 years.

Mingfang was not very crazy about material stuff. And that worked really well for me. The stuffs I did buy for her, she would treasure dearly. Her favorite handbags are all MCM brand. To us, it is Mingfang-Chunlin-Munich. Besides being very virtuous, Mingfang showed her talents in things like painting and piano, traits apparently inherited from her grandma who was a nationally renowned painter in China. Luckily for our kids, they got one parent that they could draw these genes from, because I have none to offer.

If you ask me what do I most love about Mingfang after 26 years? Well, many things, foremost, her kindness, her soft eyes, her sincere warm personality, and quiet demeanor. She was also smart, dedicated, and strong. That strong quality even surprised me. All these years, I thought I should protect her like a little sister. She toughed out the chemo ordeal, not just once, not twice, but 3 times. I would not call it being weak when she was in tears when she lost her beautiful hairs to get ready for the 1st chemo. She never complained and had always fought with hope. Even on her last breaths, she did not show any anger. Even with cold sweet drenched the pillows, her concerns were still on kids, parents, and my well-being without her. As un-deserving as I was, you still agreed to stay in our house after cremation and wait for me to join you when my time comes. I know I will do better next time we are together, for I have now learned how much you mean to me. My beloved girl of 26 years, we are not saying goodbye to each other. You are merely taking a long nap after such a long and tough battle. I know this is a fact since your serene face says just that.  

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the time and memories we all created and shared with Mingfang, for the friendship, camaraderie, appreciation of life, and many other things. You are all part of her beautiful, albeit short, life. Thank you for your support and companionship during her battle against cancer. Special thanks to Dr. Duo and Jie for introducing us to MD Anderson where Mingfang got to see the best doctor. As if it were meant to be, Mingfang brought us together through this trying time. I can honestly say that I have found many more brothers and sisters through this ordeal. Mingfang suffered a great deal of physical pain, especially during her last days. But when it was over, she was in total peace and was like a sleeping baby. She left with the comfort knowing that you will be there for our son, our daughter, and me. 

Peter 
Heart-felt thanks also go to Mingfang's uncles Yongchang, Peter, Zhengliang and aunts Qingzhen, Faping who came from NY and DC, I know you all loved Mingfang very much, starting from when she was the first baby of her generation. I also know this is extremely hard for you, yet you dropped everything else and come here to see Mingfang. Cousins Liqin, xiaoping, Yiyi, Barbara from out of states, and cousins and friends from Dallas, Houston, cousin/my collegemate Licheng from London, thank you all. This outpouring of love reflects how special Mingfang is.

Rachel, Mingfang high school's best friend, your presence here today bears a special significance. I know Mingfang wanted to see you, something she tried in June while we were in DC but couldn't due to her condition. Thank you, Rachel, for flying in from California even though you have barely settled in there. We all loved the time we had together at your home in Cary, North Carolina in 2008.

26
I would like to specially thank Mingfang's parents Xiongrong and Yu for giving me this fairest, sweetest girl, to live together for 26 most wonderful years, and experience so many things. Mom and Dad, I will be forever grateful for what you gave me and I promise to take the best care of your two lovely grandchildren. To me, this is the best way to honor Mingfang.

Words can not possibly express my gratitude to this special group of friends: Andrew, Barbara, Dirk, Haiyan, Haitao, Jenny, Jessy, Lisa, Mary, Noel, Sharon, Tom, Wuping, Wuzhi, and Xiaoling, for your brotherly and sisterly love and care on daily basis to Mingfang and the rest of family, for your tremendous effort organizing this event.

Mingfang may appear to have left, but she has not. Her kindness, her warmth, her love of life lives well within us. I, for one, know I have changed and felt that there is a part of Mingfang living in me, guiding me how to take care of our precious children, reminding me how to treat people with more kindness, understanding, and love. 

My beloved wife, Mingfang, you rest in peace. No more needles, no more harmful chemo, and no more pain. You will forever live in my heart. I know you are shining your tender caring and love down us through the moon light. I am sure of that for I know that you know I loved bright moon light because of you. When life gets tough, weather gets rough, we know we have the hope to see your gentle smile through the rainbow. My beloved Mingfang, when that day comes, you and I will meet again just like we did on Christmas day of 1990.   Thank you all.

Dear Chunlin and family,
I am deeply saddened by the loss of your wife, Mingling Wei.  My deepest sympathies go out to all of you and your extended family.  
With sympathy,
-Scott Hector

Dear Chunlin and family,

We were so shocked to hear this sad news. Mingfang and you were such good neighbors back in Stone Canyon, where we first started our family. She is elegant and kind, always wearing a beautiful smile on her face. She was great in every aspect, and we will truly miss her. At this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with you and the family, please take good care of yourself and the kids. May Mingfang rest in peace.  

-Bo & Grace

Dear Chunlin,
We are very sorry to hear the passing of your beloved wife. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family and Mingfang's parents. We are here for you.

I am so sorry to hear of Mingfang's passing.  She and I worked together at TRS.  She was always cheerful and upbeat.  She was also a diligent and talented worker who took pride in everything she touched.  She will be greatly missed by the TRS family.  May she rest in peace.  
T. A. Miller

We are sorry to hear the news. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mingfang and her family. I knew Ming when I worked at TEA. She was a good friend with a great smile. She always talked about her daughter and son. She showed us the great paintings her daughter Drew and took the entire team to the state board room when the painting was displayed. She was a very caring mother and talked a lot about her daughter and son. She used to talk a lot about her family and how she spend her time at evenings making family dinner. She was very athletic person and used to climb the entire building stairs from down floor to top floor multiple times and was a very energetic person. She was very fond of eating the green colored garbanzo beans and have shared with the team. We are praying for the entire family. Ming will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts are with Mingfang and her family. Esther and I would like to express our deepest condolences during this difficult time. 

Mingfang always had a smile on her face. She was a loving and caring friend and was such a pleasure to be around. She also had an upbeat personality. We still remember that she even tried to comfort us not to worry about her illness. Mingfang will be greatly missed. 

Kuofang & Esther Ku

We are truly sorry to hear this sad news. Please accept our condolences. Please don't hesitate to reach out, we are here for you.

I knew Mingfeng in 2006 when she joined TEA. She was always pleasant, cheerful and friendly. We worked together on many Chinese events at TEA. She was eager to help in any way she can to ensure the success of any project or celebration. She even brought her talented daughter to help with the TEA multi-cultural event. We had a lot fun working together. She was a very sweet and compassionate person who would leave a memorable impression to anyone who had in contact with her.  It is such a great loss for all of us. We will cherish our memory of her.

We are so sorry to hear this news.  We know Brandon through soccer.  We are praying for the entire family during this sorrowful time.

I got to know Mingfang in Germany when she was 20 years ago. She was such a beautiful, intelligent and gentle girl in my memory. Several years later she went to USA with her husband and I got the Christmas-Greeting from them with family photos very often. It was so great to see her two wonderful children growing up and the family doing well. But now she passed away so suddenly at such a young age. I feel so so sad and so sorry for her husband, who is also my friend, and her too children.

We are so sorry to hear the passing of Mingfang. Our thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.

R.I.P. Mingfang.

"When you lose someone you love, you gain an angel you know."

Ming worked for me for several years here at TEA.  She was a classy person and handled her job and relationships well. I am deeply saddened by her family's loss and wish them all the best.

I don't know her personally, but know her a lot through a mutual friend. I am very sorry for Mingfang's passing away. She was a beautiful person.

First time meeting MingFang was in TRS's cafeteria. She and I didn't work in the same division and we didn't see each other as much.  Met her a few more times during holiday gatherings and got to know her more. We are of about the same age and both with a child in 9th grade.  MingFang was a loving and caring person and mom.  I am saddened to hear her passing, my deep condolence to MingFang's family at this most difficult time.

We are deeply sad to know Mingfang passed away. I used to work with Mingfang in two companies. Her bright smiles always cheered things up. It was such a pleasant time working with her. We still met occasionally at the typical places where our kids went. I have not seen her for some time but I saw Chunlin taking the kids there. I am so regret that I did not ask Chunlin and  get a chance talking her before she left us. 

Rest in peace, Mingfang! 

"And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!".

 I had the pleasure of meeting Mingfang while working at TRS.  Although I didn't work directly with her and the QA team, she was known to be a smart and talented young lady and will be sorely missed by her TRS family.  My deepest sympathy to the Wei family.

I worked with Ming at TEA and got to know her well over the years. She was just a wonderful, talented person, full of life. When I think of Ming, I remember her lovely smile and that mischievous glint in her eyes. She was a dedicated mother, a good friend and a kind person. She always had a smile on her beautiful face and a sweet word for everyone around. She will be greatly missed by everyone.

Chunlin, I am so sorry for your family's loss. Mingfang was too young.

To the beautiful family of Mingfang:

I am deeply saddened to hear of her death.  As a friend and co-worker at TRS, I was always amazed at Mingfang's dedication and devotion to her family.  I am so glad to know Mingfang and her daughter, Stephanie, from their volunteerism on my weekend shifts at the Ronald McDonald House of Central Texas.  She will be missed by many.  My heart is saddened today.  

To Stephanie:  I know you will hold your head high during this difficult time.  My thoughts are with you and your family.  I hope to catch up with you soon.

We are deeply shocked by the news of losing Mingfang. I had worked with Mingfang for a short time, and soon both families became friends. Mingfang had been so nice, friendly, pretty and pleasant, I still remember the day we spent together before the day we headed to new jersey.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Mingfang and her family. We wish her rest in peace.
                                                                        Charlene's family (new jersey)

Mingfang left TEA before I started so I never met her.  I've her a lot about her though, about her beauty, her kind heart, and her sickness, so I feel like I knew her.

I have this deep believe that human lives are composed of a physical and a spiritual existences. Mingfang's physical existence may be destroyed by cancer and vainish into earth and dust. Her spiritual existence will stay strong, and will protect, nurture and guide her loved ones from a powerful place.

Mingfang, please rest in Peace heaven, where you are happy and healthy without pain and sickness.

I had the pleasure of working with her at the Teacher Retirement System.  Although I didn't know her well she was a very special person and she will be missed.  May she rest in peace.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family.  I am so sorry for your loss.

I had the pleasure of working with Mingfang at TEA. I thought she was such a dedicated worker and so nice and sweet. I am so sorry for your loss.

We are deeply saddened by the news of Mingfang's passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. May Mingfang rest in peace!

OBITUARY

Mingfang Wei

February 20, 1970 – September 2, 2016

Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home

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