Wilson Maa

71, San Francisco

On March 3, Wilson Maa stood at the top of Machu Picchu with his wife, Toyling. He was checking off his bucket list, albeit with some alterations.

He had hoped to take his daughters, Nancy and Julie, too, but when the opportunity arose for his wife and him to go with some of their friends, it was too good to pass up.

“I said, ‘You know, we’re not getting any younger. So if we want to be able to go to Machu Picchu and walk in our own power, this might be one of our last chances,’ ” Toyling said. “Granted, we were the slowest, but we still made it.”

Maa wasn’t one to give up his chances — he’d asked Toyling to marry him three times before she said yes. After the kids left them with an empty nest, they took advantage of their free time and traveled to Egypt, Hawaii, Thailand and China. He would buy a new camera for every trip, to make sure it had the latest features.

The couple was looking forward to relaxing on a cruise after climbing Machu Picchu and seeing other sights in South America before flying home from Buenos Aires.

But what was supposed to be a twoweek vacation aboard the Coral Princess cruise ship turned into a nightmare.

As the coronavirus spread across the world, countries began closing their borders. The ship was denied entry to Brazil and Argentina until finally being allowed to dock in Miami a month after its departure. By this time, the coronavirus had infected at least a dozen passengers, including Wilson and Toyling.

He was one of the more severe cases, and had to be intubated on the ship. He faced a four-hour delay to get an ambulance, and died just after midnight in the hospital on April 5. He was 71.

Maa, his older sister and younger brother were born and raised in San Francisco by Chinese immigrants. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in engineering technology and served in the National Guard during the Vietnam War.

With his engineering background, he could fix just about anything, and he met Toyling while she was living with her uncle and his wife, Maa’s sister. Maa would come around the house frequently to fix their appliances.

“He would just show up with a little toolbox, and he’d fix it, and then he’d walk right back out the door like, ‘OK, bye, see you later,’ ” Toyling said.

Once she’d found a job and was ready to move out three months later, Maa showed up at their doorstep one last time, and they ended up striking up a conversation that lasted all night. That was the first time he proposed. Two proposals later, Toyling finally said yes. At the time of his death, they’d been married 42 years.

Maa is also survived by his daughters Nancy Chien and Julie Maa; grandchildren Trevor, Alison, Sebastian and Isabela; and a sister, Lucille Yee.