Ming-Yen Shen

Ming-Yen Shen, devoted and loving mother, wife, sister, and friend passed away in the early morning of January 1st surrounded by her family at the Casey House Hospice in Rockville, MD. Ming-Yen was known to her family, friends, and even those who met her briefly for her kindness, generosity, courage and resilience.

Born in 1950 to Cheng-Wei Wang and Hui Zhang, Ming-Yen – who went by many nicknames including Kitty – was the oldest of six daughters. Growing up, Kitty was an exceptionally bright and dedicated student. During exam time, she would disassemble her bed and move her mattress out of her bedroom so she couldn't fall asleep and instead study through many sleepless nights. Her academic discipline helped her achieve top scores on Taiwan’s national comprehensive exam and gain entrance to Taipei First Girls High School – the nation’s most prestigious high school for girls. She continued to excel academically and was admitted to National Taiwan University’s international business program – one the most competitive majors at the country’s top university. She graduated from NTU with a bachelor’s in 1972.

Kitty was not only a gifted student, but also a successful career woman. She loved fashion and was known for her style, so it is fitting that she started her career in the fashion industry in the 1970s. Kitty worked her way up at various fashion sourcing companies in Taiwan, serving as the local representative for buyers of major department stores, like Macy’s, Lord & Taylor and Saks 5th Avenue. She was eventually in charge of a portfolio of over $240 million, representing the sourcing needs of over 1,500 department stores and fashion retailers.

Kitty’s work also brought her to America for the first time in 1977, where she visited New York City to meet with her premier client, Macy’s. As a young woman in her 20s on her first international business trip, she fell in love with the imagination of the United States and possibility of the American Dream. It’s no wonder she felt that way as she would recount for years later going to see the first Star Wars film in theaters and The Wiz on Broadway during that first business trip to the States. She would go on to visit many other American cities for work – including San Francisco, DC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles – tacking on time to sightsee, visit friends and family, and explore a country that seemed so full of opportunity. Her travels to the U.S. would prove to be formative as she would immigrate to the country years later.

In Taipei, she met Yi-Heng “Francis” Shen on a blind date set up by a mutual friend on February 28, 1982 and married him six months later. They would start a family in 1983 with the birth of their first son Mao-Lin, followed by a second son Mao-Bin a year later. As a young family, they moved to the United States in 1988. They ultimately settled down in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC so they could be close to Francis’ family who were already living in the area. Kitty would continue to work in the fashion industry for the regional department store Woodward & Lothrop, and in 1989, Kitty and Francis would welcome their third son Mao-Tong.

As the years progressed, raising her three sons became her priority. She took a break from her career so she could spend more time with them. But when Francis had a career opportunity to work in China in 1995, Kitty supported him and went back to work, running the family business Seven Seas Chinese Restaurant in College Park, MD.

Running a restaurant and raising three boys on her own was difficult to say the least, but Kitty tackled this challenge head on as she did with all of life’s challenges. Twice a day for 30 to 45 minutes each way, Kitty would drive back and forth between her home in Rockville and the restaurant in College Park. She would come back home in the afternoon to ensure her sons were fed and doing their homework, and then rush back to the restaurant and not return home until after 10 pm when she was finished for the day. While this was grueling, Kitty never complained and did this for years to support the family that she loved so dearly. She ultimately ran a successful family business for over 18 years, finally retiring in 2013.

In her free time, which became much more abundant after her retirement, Kitty enjoyed going to the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center, where she did water walking every morning and socialized with her “swim center” friends. She enjoyed trying new activities like Chinese dance, chatting with her friends in the neighborhood, and catching up over the phone with her best friends from her early career and student years. Some of her most cherished moments included spending time with her beloved chihuahua Shiao Go and taking care of her mother-in-law Mary Shen with whom she was very close. Kitty, of course, loved spending time with her three sons, who she raised to be just like her: hardworking, resilient, generous and kind.

Kitty will be remembered most for her generosity and resilience. These two of her qualities extended to everything that she did, every adversity she faced, every person that she met and befriended. Nothing exemplified this more than her commitment to her family, which included her parents and younger sisters who lived far away from her. For example, she knew that her father, who only had daughters, longed for a son to carry on his family name. So Kitty, with the agreement of her husband, generously gave their third son Mao-Tong her father’s last name – an act that strayed very far from Chinese tradition. She looked after her sister’s children, Jun-Ting and T.K., when they immigrated to the U.S. without their parents. She opened up her home to them and became a surrogate mom when their mother Ming-Yu, Kitty’s sister, passed away in 2008. When her parents became older and their health started to decline, she made numerous trips to Taiwan to care for them for extended periods of time.

From an early age, her parents often said that Kitty was unlucky in life because she suffered from childhood asthma, which meant she couldn’t participate in certain school activities with her classmates. But she didn’t let this hold her back. Later in life when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, she fought every day to keep the disease at bay. She went on daily walks even when they became difficult, took Parkinson’s boxing classes where she learned how to jab punching bags, and kept up with her daily physical therapy exercises. In her most difficult moments with the disease, Kitty always remembered to be gracious and kind in her interactions with her doctors, caregivers, physical therapists, neighbors, friends and strangers – often asking how their families were doing and offering them gifts.

Kitty adored her large family and was the center of gravity that brought them all together for holidays, special occasions and reunions. She is survived by her husband of over 41 years Yi-Heng “Francis”; her three sons Mao-Lin, Mao-Bin and Mao-Tong, and their respective partners Kevin, Denise and Jill; her sisters Ming-Fen, Ming-Li, Ming-Chi “Mickie” and Ming-Shiou; her sister-in-law Maria and brother-in-law Edward; her surrogate sons William, T.K. and Jack; and many more cousins, nephews and nieces.

A viewing will be held on Sunday, January 14th from 10:30-11:30 am at De Vol Funeral Home in Gaithersburg, MD, followed by a closed funeral service from 11:30 am-12:30 pm for family and friends. A lunch to honor and celebrate Kitty’s life will be held at Stanford Grill in Rockville, MD at 1:00 pm following the funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Parkinson’s Foundation