Alice Mae Hwang

Alice was born on February 28, 1964 and was the eldest daughter of Jackson and Julie Hwang. She grew up in Zhudong, Taiwan until her family immigrated to America in 1973. After settling in Moraga, California, Alice frequently took care of her younger brothers, Frank and Philip, while their parents worked all day at their family restaurant. Alice and her brothers also helped work at the restaurant on the weekends. Growing up, Alice enjoyed playing the piano, reading, creating art, and painting calligraphy. She was also a clarinet player in her high school marching band. Alice and her brothers would often spend time with their other relatives by going camping and visiting the local church together.

After graduating from high school, Alice went on to receive her Bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University in Clinical Nutrition. During her time at SFSU, she learned more about Christianity through a local church that was evangelizing on campus, and she became a follower of Jesus. One of her first jobs after college was working as a nutritional assistant at the Salvation Army. Around this time, Alice also met her husband, David Shieh. David was looking for an engineering job in the Bay Area, and a family friend connected the two of them.

In April 1990, Alice and David were married at David’s former church in Albany, and they moved to San Jose, California to start their family. Their two children, Rebecca and Justin, were born in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Alice and David’s marriage of 31 years was held together by the steadfast love of God, and they learned how to love each other as the Lord loves each one of us.

Throughout Alice’s time raising her children, she faithfully took care of her family’s needs as well as helped with many school and church programs. She juggled substitute teaching at the local --elementary schools, being a youth counselor to middle and high school-aged students at church, teaching Sunday School to elementary-aged students, as well as caring for her aging parents. She was also devoted to providing her family with nutritious meals every day and teaching her children to walk with the Lord. After her children grew up, she continued serving in the children’s ministry at church, was involved in the women’s ministry, and took on a new job as a paraeducator for special needs students at Milpitas High School. Alice also became a grandmother to Isabella in 2020.

Alice found out that she had a genetic disorder known as Marfan Syndrome after surviving an aortic dissection and emergency surgery in 2008. She would often mention that “God gave [her] a second chance at life,” and she used every day to serve God and His people. Though she is no longer with us, we will always remember how she demonstrated the love of God through her life, and we look forward to the day that we will see her again.