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In memory of
Yaocheng "Tom" Yang
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Tom's obituary
2020年11月7日，上午10点左右，尧政突发心梗到地，虽立即抢救，但还是11点31分被主接天家，在主内安息。
尧政现在美好无比的天家，再也没有压力，再也没有病痛，有的是家人的爱，兄弟姐妹的爱，更有上帝源源不断的大爱。感恩天父的拣选与怜悯！！！
——
Life comes at us unexpectedly, and sometimes, it departs just as fast.
Yaocheng 'Tom' Yang, of Alpharetta, Georgia, passed away on November 7th, 2020 after an unexpected heart attack. He was 61, and should have had plenty of years left in him.
An hour prior to his death, he was his normal self—he was so excited that his wife had a Saturday off, and wanted to surprise her by taking her to the gardens she loves.
That was not atypical of him. Tom loved to surprise, but more importantly, he loved to love. He loved the ones closest to him well. Prior to COVID-19, he would regularly take his wife and daughter on walks, dinners, day trips, and shopping adventures to Lidl. Oh, how he loved Lidl.
Born to Shou-Cai Yang and Yuan Zhan on May 10th, 1959, Tom grew up in Taichung, Taiwan. The youngest of five boys, he treasured his close relationship with his siblings. Tom emulated his parents’ hard and meticulous work ethic—particularly his mother's. After serving his country in mandatory conscription for two years, Tom went on to graduate from Tatung University, studying electronic engineering. He was very proud of his degree, as it served him for many years as he mastered computer software and repaired all electrical appliances.
In 1983, he decided it was time for a change, and moved to the land of opportunities across the globe. He obtained his MBA in 1985 at the University of New Hampshire. Though he was a minority (quite the understatement), he did not allow that to deter him in any way. After graduating, he moved to New Jersey. There, he and his brother John (closest to him in age) worked for C&F Import until 2005.
A few years in his time at C&F, Tom was a bit restless. It was the early nineties, he had a stable job, and he even had many adventures under his belt: He had driven across the country without stopping, visited family in Taiwan, been a great uncle to his nephews and nieces, backpacked across Europe, and driven as fast as he could across the Autobahn (to name a few adventures)! But he was missing one thing—someone nice and pretty to keep him in check.
And around that time, a relative introduced him to the most beautiful lady in the world. The rest, as they say, is history.
There was just one problem: this beautiful lady lived in China. Cue the plane trips.
After dates, memories, hours and hours of conversation, and, again, plane trips, Tom married the love of his life (Wu 'Annie' Chang) on May 28, 1993. The heavens rejoiced. Everyone cheered. At the end of the next year, along came Victoria, their first and only child. Tom was so proud of Victoria, and he made sure everyone knew it.
At this point, the new family lived in China. After Victoria's birth, Tom traveled back to the States to continue managing C&F Import. In 1996, Tom sensed a new opportunity, and moved from New Jersey to Atlanta, Georgia. (Maybe he just wanted to take in the Olympics.)
But what was Atlanta without his wife and child? In January 1998, his wife and daughter immigrated to Atlanta. That March, Tom and Annie made a huge life decision and purchased a home. And today, over two decades later, it is still in their name. Tom loved to show his wife and daughter around their brand new country: they would regularly travel up and down the East Coast (in spite of many times when the toddler in tow was crying and pouting).
As the years went by, Tom decided that it was time to start his own company. A creature of habit, he continued in the import/export business but bought his own warehouse, establishing Art International Enterprises. It’s never easy to be self-employed, and Tom would often work as long as it took to make sure his wife and daughter never had to worry.
Through it all, Tom cared deeply about others. He would often be the first to offer assistance to friends and family in need within his church and around his community. He regularly checked up on relatives near and far. When he lived in New Jersey, Tom volunteered to watch his nephews and nieces so often that he was even mistaken for a father when bringing them to a fast food joint.
He was also a life-long learner. He loved documentaries, encyclopedias, the educational side of Youtube, and Wikipedia. Google Translate was one of his most-used apps: he would regularly search new and unfamiliar words (and then would test his newfound knowledge to see if he was smarter than his daughter, winning every time). Though his English was nearly flawless, he would often tag along to his wife's ESL classes in search of new information (or sit in on classes when his wife had to work).
Tom was preceded in death by his parents: Shou-Cai and Yuan; and brothers: Xing and Ming. His incredible legacy lives on with his wife of 26 years: Annie; daughter: Victoria, mother-in-law: Cuiyin; brothers: Peter (Rose) and John (Finlan); and countless nephews and nieces, including his beloved nephew, Frank (Cathy).
It goes without saying that Tom will be missed by so many. Tom knew Jesus. There was so much in life he didn’t understand, but, like every challenge he faced in life, he pressed in. He attended church and small groups with his wife, often raising the most thought-provoking questions. He was highly intelligent, after all. Now he sees Jesus in full—something all of us long for.
Though we grieve, we do not grieve as those without hope, since we are confident that one day we will be reunited with Tom in a land that knows no suffering and no pain. Our hope is that one day, God will make all things new and whole. A prayer attributed to the Kenyan church goes like this: "All our problems, we send to the cross of Christ. All our difficulties, we send to the cross of Christ. All the devil's works, we send to the cross of Christ. All our hopes, we set on the risen Christ." While death seems like a betrayal, Christ mourns with us and for us and makes promises only He can keep—promises that He will call us out of death and into resurrection. Indeed, may it be so.
Tom wished for his body to be cremated, and that will be conducted November 10th at 11:30 AM. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a small graveside service and burial will be held at Sawnee View Memorial Gardens (1390 Dahlonega Hwy, Cumming, GA 30040) on November 13 at 10:00 AM. Please practice discretion, and respect CDC guidelines & the wearing of masks. (We respectfully ask you to first reach out to Annie or Victoria to confirm your attendance.)
Tom managed most of the family’s accounts and assets. A GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/reme…) has been set up to help the family offset medical, funeral, and estate expenses, as Tom was unable to obtain life insurance due to preexisting conditions. Condolences may be expressed on this site or on GoFundMe.
On behalf of Annie and Victoria, thank you so much for all the kind words, flowers, phone calls, food, donations, and prayers. It truly means the world.
Cremation arrangements will be handled by Lee's Funeral Home & Crematory of Norcross, GA.
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Created with love by
Victoria Yang (Tom's daughter).
