Obituary

Charlotte S. Hsieh was born in Zheijiang Li Shui on June 10, 1940.  She sustained fatal injuries in a car accident and passed away on October 21, 2005, in Suzhou, Jiansu, China.  Her husband, Dr. Jim Hsieh, was by her side at the time of her death at age 65.

Charlotte graduated from Taipei First Girl’s Middle School.  She earned her bachelor’s degree, magnum cum laude, from National Chengchi University, majoring in Western Languages.  In 1963 she came to the United States and obtained her master’s degree in Linguistics and doctoral degree in Oriental Languages from UCLA.  Charlotte and Jim were married in 1967.  The Hsieh Family lived in Boston for over thirty years and obtained a second home in San Diego in 1996. 

Charlotte taught at Boston University for over ten years.  She was instrumental in establishing their Chinese Language Program.  She also volunteered in Chinese Schools during the weekends.  She made significant contributions toward Chinese language teaching in the Boston area.  Since she was a young girl, she was interested in singing and various forms of art.  In recent years she took lessons in Western opera singing and Chinese brush painting.  She also had great expertise in Chinese poetry and antiques. 

Charlotte and Jim had great affection for each other and enjoyed a beautiful married life of close to 40 years, sharing many hobbies including music, golf and antiques.  Both won championships in golf tournaments on the east and west coasts.  The Hsiehs have been generous in making contributions and donations for many projects.  They provided a very substantial donation to the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.

Jim is known for his research and expertise in fiber-optics.  He had Charlotte’s full support throughout his career.  Jim is a successful entrepreneur and has made many contributions in his field of specialization in the United States and in China. 

The Hsiehs have two sons, Frank and Michael.  Frank and his wife, Michelle, are the parents of Charlotte’s only grandchild, Timothy, whose birth brought her great joy.  Frank is following in his father’s footsteps by engaging in the research and development and commercialization of fiber-optic components.  Michael lives in San Francisco and shares his mother’s interest in music.  He devotes his time to the development of web designs and the promotion of music.

Charlotte came from a well-known family.  Her father, S. I. Lin, served as a member of the Legislative Yuan in the Republic of China.  Her mother, Chen-Hsuan Hsu Lin, came from Jiangshu and is now 95 years old.  Charlotte was very close to her mother who lived with her for many years.  Charlotte was the fourth of seven children, including four sisters, Irene married to Kuan Zuai Hu, Mandy married to Bing Chen, Daisy married to Bing Shen Kuan, and Peggy married to Kenneth Pao.  Charlotte’s brothers are Marco Lin married to Terry and Hsin-Hua Lin, deceased, who is survived by his wife, Annabel.