Caroline Kiang

Caroline Kiang - writer, speaker, painter, mentor and entrepreneur - quietly slipped away on September 16, 2021.  She was born in 1947 in Nanjing, China, and as a young child, she and her family fled to Taiwan. In 1968, she moved to America for graduate school, arriving with only $250. (She would want you to know that she repaid her parents in six months.)  

Her life was one of reinvention. She was constantly pushing herself to try and become new things. In her lifetime, she explored many professions and hobbies including tennis enthusiast, cooking show host, karaoke aficionado, fashionista, mah jong master, and world traveler, to name a few.  

Caroline was extremely outgoing and knew every Chinese person in the greater Chicago area. She helped plan many Chinese New Year celebrations and was the driving force behind her husband’s election as an overseas Taiwan senator. After moving back to Taiwan, she threw herself whole-heartedly into Toastmasters International, where she quickly became a "distinguished toastmaster" and district director. She even planned an unforgettable conference that included a flash mob.   

Later in life, she poured herself into painting, and held a gallery opening to showcase her work. She earned a law degree in her 60s and enrolled in a PhD program at the age of 72.   

She will be remembered for her tenacity, cheerfulness, zeal for life, love of singing, and her staunch rejection of the word "can’t." She will be greatly missed for her energy and passion.  

She leaves behind many pairs of size 6 shoes to be filled by her husband, Webster; her children, Doris, Charlene, and Allen; her grandchildren, Judah, Jalyn, Elias, Essie, Kalena, and Alexis; her brothers, Carl and Richard, as well as hundreds of real life friends and thousands of virtual ones.

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