David Wai Ying Ma

August 15, 1939 – March 4, 2022

David passed away peacefully in Palo Alto, CA on March 4, 2022 at the age of 82 with family by his side.

David was born on August 15, 1939 to Shu Chung Ma and Kit Bing Yuen in Canton, China. David became very independent at an early age as he went to Hong Kong to join his father by himself at the age of 12 while his mother and younger brother, William did not join him until 10 years later. David finished his high school studies in Hong Kong and obtained professional qualifications in Finance & Accounting after he decided to pursue a career in Finance.

David met Catherine in Hong Kong and they got married after dating for 7 years. He was married to her for over 54 years and celebrated their Golden Anniversary a few years ago.

David had a very successful Finance career across multiple companies including Hong Kong & Eastern Shipping Company, Empress Hotel and Universal Furniture Limited in Hong Kong. One of his biggest accomplishments was to help Universal Furniture Limited to go public and traded on NASDAQ while he was their Chief Financial Officer in 1983. Universal Furniture Limited was the first Asian company to produce furniture designed specifically for the U.S. market.

David was a savvy businessman and was also one of the founders of the High Fashion International Group in Hong Kong, which founded fashionable brands such as August Silk. High Fashion later expanded to become a modern fashion enterprise across the globe and went public in Hong Kong Stock Market in 1992, listed as the High Fashion International Group. After retiring from Universal Furniture, David wanted to keep his mind sharp and decided to do part-time consulting work for High Fashion.

His work ethic is always an inspiration to his daughter. David also took a lot of pride to mentor his colleagues and his employees and ultimately earned him a great deal of respect from them over the years. He was also generous in helping family and friends and expected nothing in return. With a strong commitment in education, David had donated to schools in China, Hong Kong and the US in the past.

After David retired, he enjoyed travelling around the world with friends and family to taste delicious food and wine. In his free time, he also enjoyed photography and gardening. He was especially proud when he had a good harvest from his peach/nectarine trees.

David will always be remembered as a loving husband and father who always provided the best to his family.

David is survived by his wife Catherine, his daughter Annick (Craig) and his brother William (Judith).

The funeral service will be held on Monday, March 14, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. PT at Woodlawn Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 1000 El Camino Real, Colma, CA 94014. Interment will follow at Woodlawn.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you donate to Amyloidosis foundation, 7151 N. Main St. Ste 2, Clarkston, MI 48346 (248) 922-9610 (https://amyloidosis.org/act/donate/)