•••• Matilda Tsao 1928 -2020
Matilda Tsao passed away peacefully Dec. 16 at Los Alamitos Medical Center. The family welcomes any fun or serious story you have of Matilda. Send the stories to her son, Jeff, at tsaojef@ gmail.com.
Matilda was unique and memorable, full of love and joy. She was born Ma Chien-Ling in Guangdong Province on Oct. 18, 1928, and was adopted by Ma Chao Jun and Shen Hui Lian as a little girl. She lived in various places in Guangdong, Nanking, Chongqing and Hong Kong before sailing to San Francisco in 1949.
Matilda went to Jinling College in Nanking, Ursuline College in Kentucky, and the University of Chicago in Illinois. She met her husband, Ching, in Chicago and was married there in June 1952. They moved to Los Angeles, driving cross-country while she pregnant with her daughter Debbie, who was born in Oct.1953. She had her son Jeff in May 1955. They lived in various places throughout Southern California including Los Angeles, Culver City, Palos Verdes, Seal Beach College Park, and Leisure World, where they moved in 1988.
Matilda was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Ching, who passed away in 2016, and her grandson Evan Tsao, who passed away in 1989. She is survived by her daughter, Debbie Tsao, and son, Jeff Tsao (Sylvia); her grandchildren Kristin Kolodinsky (Kevin), Hilary Nicholls (Michael), Jeff Yamada (fiancé Liyang Tang), Emil Tsao and Eugene Tsao; and her greatgrandchildren Eli Nicholls and Emerson Kolodinsky. Her last years were spent under the care of her beloved caregiver and friend, Winnie Conrad.
