Stanley Shih-Tung King

Stanley Shih-Tung King passed away on October 26, 2022, at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware.  Born in Liaoning, China in 1934, Stan moved to Taiwan with his family in 1949, after the Chinese Civil War.  He received his BS in Chemistry from the National Taiwan Normal University, then came to the United States in 1960 to study at the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, where he received his MS degree.  Stan received his PhD at the University of Minnesota, where he met and married his dear wife of fifty-six years, Ellen Huang King.  The couple then moved to Midland, Michigan in 1966, where Stan worked for the Dow Chemical Company as a research chemist for thirty years. He held eight patents and was named Dow’s Inventor of the Year in 1991. Stan and Ellen raised their three children, Todd, Laura, and Michelle, in Midland, where they lived for forty years, and made many lifelong friends as active members of the Tri-City Chinese Association. A decade after retirement, Stan and Ellen relocated to Landenberg, Pennsylvania in 2008, where they enjoyed traveling around the world and taking classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in Wilmington, Delaware. They also took part in the activities of the Evergreen Club at the Chinese American Community Center of Hockessin, Delaware. Stan took great pleasure in classical music his entire life, playing his cello as part of the Midland Community Orchestra and the OLLI Orchestra. He was fond of the great outdoors, particularly camping and skiing in Michigan. He loved good food and was well-known among family and friends for sharing his Northern Chinese specialty dishes, scallion pancakes and steamed buns. Beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, scientist, cellist, outdoorsman, and homecook, Stan ultimately thought of himself as a philosopher of life, all the way to the end. After five weeks in the hospital with a lung infection, Stan entered hospice care on his own terms. His entire family was at his bedside when he passed away at the Christiana Hospital, at peace after a rich, full, and blessed life.  

Stanley is survived by his wife, Ellen Huang King; his children, Todd King of Catonsville, MD, Laura King of London, UK, and Michelle King of Chapel Hill, NC; and eight grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers, Spencer King of Camarillo, CA, Tony King of Boca Raton FL, and his sister, Tina King of Castro Valley, CA; he is predeceased by his brother, Shih-Kai King of Taipei, Taiwan. A memorial service will be planned for a future date (to be announced). In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of Wilmington, DE (https://ud.alumniq.com/giving/to/olliwilmington).

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