In Memoriam

where his father was a vice president of Civil Air Transport (CAT). Tom was active in sports and was an assistant editor of Tiger Tales. Tom attended LeMoyne College before embarking on a lifelong career in transportation and logistics with 25 years of service for American Airlines. He is survived by his wife Julie Ann, his brother Michael Boyd ’66, three daughters, and five grandchildren. He always recounted his year at Taipei American School as one of the most wonderful of his life.

Diana Tai-Yu Chen ’69 passed away on March 10, 2018 in Hong Kong. She graduated from the University of San Francisco and pursued a career in court reporting. She is remembered by her loved ones as a people person and a problem solver who always cared and worried about everyone around her and always went out of her way to lend a hand when anyone was in need. She is survived by sisters Maria Chen ’68 and Helen Chen ’67.

Jeffrey Jones ’72 passed away on April 7, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is survived by his wife Priscilla and two children, his father Sammie, a sister, and brother.

Donna Elizabeth Templin Toth

’73 passed away on March 27, 2019, at home in Pflugerville, Texas. Donna and her two sisters Susan Templin Bassi ’69 and Cathy Templin Cunningham ’70 all attended TAS in the late 1970s. She graduated from Lanier High School and later attended the University of North Texas. Donna and her husband Chris Toth built a successful masonry construction business, Lone Star Masonry and later CD Lone Star, Inc., which has served central Texas for over 43 years. Donna was an avid music fan, and she was also an enthusiastic band mom and volunteer. She was a voracious reader and enjoyed baseball, scuba, and traveling throughout the Caribbean and Hawaii. She was known for being generous, kind, and having a contagious sense of humor. She was a child of God and loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Donna is survived by her husband of 42 years Chris; her daughter Cathy Toth; her son Brad Toth and wife Sara, and her siblings Margie, Cathy, and Jack. Lois Blanks passed away in April 2019. Lois and George Blanks both taught at TAS for many years. George taught upper school earth science, and Lois taught Grade 7 humanities. Together they started the Roots and Shoots Club. Lois also implemented the Chinese New Year writing project that continued for many years as part of the 7th-grade curriculum. Lois was well loved and a very good writing teacher. She is survived by her husband George and daughter Dorothy.

Celebrating the Life of

Catherine K. Funk

March 30, 2019 ~ 4:30 p.m. Guy Lott Jr., Auditorium

Catherine K. Funk, former Middle School principal, passed away on Friday, January 18, 2019. Cathy started her career at TAS in 1980 as a social studies teacher. From the moment she stepped on campus, Cathy was what she called “an advocate for the middleschool-aged child,” starting up the Christmas dance for the middle school and becoming the team leader for the Grades 7 and 8 teachers. Superintendent Guy Lott Jr. appointed Cathy to chair the feasibility study for reinstating the Middle School amid rising enrollment and made the presentation to the School Board which approved the Middle School to start in 1986. In 1987, Cathy was appointed middle school principal and served for 21 years. She left TAS in 2008. For six years, Cathy battled a very rare and egregious metaplastic cancer, and through her ordeal, she was a pillar of strength and inspiration as she was throughout her life to so many. She was attended at her bedside by her husband William Funk, daughters Kimberly ’90 and Camille ’94, and her sister Susan Kenney Dent. She and her husband William were married for nearly 52 years. TAS friends and former colleagues held a Celebration of Life for Cathy on March 30, 2019 which drew more than 200 members of the TAS community. In tribute to Cathy’s long service to TAS, this Celebration of Life for Cathy Funk featured videos and live tributes from Dr. Sharon Hennessy, former students and friends, her associate principals, fellow teachers, and former administrators. The event concluded with a spirited rendition of “Uptown Funk” with lyrics that paid tribute to Cathy’s legacy. Dr. M. Samuel Noordhoff passed away on December 3, 2018. He was a famed craniofacial surgeon and Taiwanese medical missionary with over 40 years of service. He and his wife Lucy were former TAS parents, and Dr. Noordhoff is survived by his wife and his four children who are all TAS alumni: Nancy Lamberts ’74, Samuel P. Noordhoff ’76, Anne Noordhoff Lin ’80, and Dirck Noordhoff ’86. Dr. Noordhoff pioneered cleft lip and palate surgery in Taiwan, performing more than 10,000 surgeries in his lifetime. In 1989, he founded the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation (NCF) with $100,000 USD of his own funds. Today, the NCF works with Chang Gung Memorial Hospital to train doctors from different countries on Dr. Noordhoff’s methods of cleft lip and palate surgery. After Dr. Noordhoff’s funeral in January 2019, his daughter Anne and husband David Lin visited TAS to meet with faculty and administrators and got to know current students who run the Operation Smile club at TAS.