“DEAN” TEH-AN CHENG
1927-2020
Dean Teh-An Cheng, 93, passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 16. Dean was born on February 20, 1927 in Hunan, China.
Dean attended Mingda Primary School Shanghai Garden Branch; his teacher was his grandfather, Jianqui Cheng. He attended Chunyuan Middle School, which was jointly run by the Cheng and Jiang families. He completed his education at National Central Technical School. In 1948 he worked as a technical assistant (military rank: warrant officer) at the Shanghai National Defense Medical College- Medical Equipment Laboratory and continued working there in 1949 after the school moved to Taiwan as part of the KMT exodus. Dean worked there until 1960 when he left with a military rank of Captain. In 1961-1966 he worked as an engineer for a hydropower engineering company in Taiwan. In 1966-1968 he worked on public engineering projects for U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters in Saigon, Vietnam. He returned to Taiwan and worked for China Technical Service Agency from 1969-1971.
Dean moved to Guam in 1971 to manage a hydropower engineering company and moved his family there in 1973. The family settled in Houston in August 1978 and Dean became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1981. His work with Ret-Ser Engineering Agency from 1978-1983 took him to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where they prepared naval military port facilities. In 1986-1988 Dean worked in Bahrain and helped build the Gulf University and the
Bahrain Air Force Base. In 1991-1998 Dean was rehired by Hung Ching Construction Co., Ltd. as chief engineer and was in charge of the A.S.E. Center Construction Project in Taipei. From 2004-2008, he was a consultant for the company’s Shanghai branch. Dean received a heart pacemaker in 2008 and finally retired at 81 after he suffered a stroke. He recovered and was in relatively good health. He lived with son Andrew, his caretaker for the last 12 years.
Dean was preceded in death by his father, Songnian Cheng in 1943 and mother, Lanqing Jiang in 1978; his wife Sophie Mei Jen Cheng on September 6, 2004, and his sister Shiyi Cheng on April 17, 2016.
Dean is survived by his daughter Alice Cheng Lee and son-in-law Mark Lee, son Andrew Cheng, son Danny Cheng, M.D. and daughterin-law Catherine Cao; grandchildren Eric Michael Lee, Katherine Chia-Yu Lee, Zoe Sophia Cheng, and Parker Tristan Cheng; nephew Dingming Hu and wife Wangyi in Seattle, WA; brother, sister and many extended family members in China, Taiwan and U.S.
Visitation is 2pm Saturday, September 26 at Winford Funeral Home Southwest. Service is at 3 pm. In-person capacity is limited and friends are encouraged to join online at winfordfunerals.com. Dean’s final wish was to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Dean’s memory may be made to the Chinese Community Center, 9800 Town Park Drive, Houston, TX 77036.