Ming-Hung Shen

Ming-Hung Shen was born on Oct 6, 1930 in Shanghai, China. He passed away on Oct 20, 2014. Ming-Hung had a very eventful life, from peaceful and happy childhood in Shanghai and Peking. He and his mother had to leave Beijing to Vietnam in a boat and then took train to Kuan Min to skip Japanese invasion at the beginning of World War II. His teenage years were spent in Kuan Min, China, by then a city that was used by American Flying Tiger as headquarter during the World War II. He became good friends with some of the pilots and ground crews and got interest into HAM radio and electronics which eventually became his career. He went back to Beijing after WWII and had his college education in Tseng Hua University. He then went into Chinese Military specialize in radio communication. He returned to Beijing and became lead engineer and then chief engineer in a semiconductor factory and made a name in his field. During Culture revolution (1966-1976), He was forced into labor camp simply because his sister is in the United States. During those dark years, all the family members suffered greatly. When China starts to open during the 1980, with the help from his sister Dr. Constance Pittman, he was able to travel to US as exchanged scientist.

With three suitcases, he started a new life at University of Alabama in Birmingham. He was in his 50th, but he worked extremely hard to provide for his children and family. In 1989, he and his wife Yu-Xia were naturalized as citizen of United States. It was the crown moment for his life in United States. He treasured and was proud of his US citizenship. He always reminded his children to be grateful for this great country who provided opportunity and freedom. He was retired at 1995 and started to enjoy his retirement by went to fishing and traveling. He married Yu-Xia in 1961, they had a great loving marriage for 50 plus years and raised four children.