Obituary of Robert Y. Liang

                                                                 Robert Liang June 17, 1936 – August 6, 2024

Robert Liang, age 88, of Forest Hills, New York passed away on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.

Mr. Robert Liang (梁右予,Liang You-Yu), passed away at home, surrounded by family and dedicated caregivers, on August 6, 2024 of pancreatic cancer. Born in Shanghai, China in 1936, Robert fled Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) forces during China’s civil war between the CCP and the Kuomintang-led government in 1949 as a 13 year-old with his parents, 李秀芬 (Li Hsiu-Fen) and 梁華炎(Liang Hua-Yen), and younger brother, George Liang (梁左予,Liang Zuo-Yu), emigrating to Taiwan. In Taipei, Taiwan, he graduated from Cheng Kung Senior High School (now known as Taipei Municipal Chenggong High School) in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei. He subsequently graduated from Soochow University where he studied law. After graduating from college, he served two years in the Taiwan military as part of Taiwan’s conscription system (which was reinstituted by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War). Afterwards, at the age of 24 in 1960, he flew to Seattle, emigrating to the United States, and then took a Greyhound bus to New York City with the intent to continue on to Duke University to obtain his LL.M. He remained in New York, however, after meeting his wife of 56+ years, Joanne Liang. They were married at City Hall in New York City in 1968 and lived in Flatbush, Brooklyn before settling in Rockaway Beach, Queens in 1977, where they lived and enjoyed walking on the boardwalk until 2021, when they moved to Forest Hills to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

In the United States, Robert earned an LL.M from New York University and an M.B.A. from Baruch College. While he attended Baruch College, he also worked at a steel company on 50th Street in Manhattan while Joanne worked at a jewelry store on 47th Street and asked her to lunch almost every day. He then founded an import/export company, Chylina Trading Company, in 1970, which exported industrial goods from the United States to Taiwan and operated the business out of an office he rented in the Flatiron Building until 1981, when he started to work from home. In addition to his formal education, Robert was a lifelong learner and enjoyed reading books in a wide variety of subjects ranging from automotive repair to the reign of Hawaii’s Queen Liliuokalani, and up until the time of his death, remained abreast of current events.  He always had a pocket memo pad to jot down unfamiliar words, so that he could find them in his red, unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary and write down their definitions.

Robert enjoyed his early years in New York with schoolmates from Taiwan who had also emigrated to the United States from Taiwan. They were roommates in apartments all over Manhattan, traveling to Rochester in upstate New York on weekends to wait tables and otherwise enjoying what New York had to offer to graduate students who, as he described, barely had two nickels to rub together. He maintained and cherished these friendships until his death.

Robert had an irrepressible sense of humor, an ever-present twinkle in his eye and was an exceptional conversationalist. He was immensely proud of each of his grandchildrens’ accomplishments small and large, regardless of whether it was mastering walking as a baby, performing in a piano recital, giving a graduation speech, or serving in the U.S. Senate. As a father, Robert always had an apt Confucian teaching, Tang dynasty poem or Buddhist maxim at the ready to provide as guidance, not the least of which was “everything is temporary” – the good and the bad.   

Robert deeply believed that a “thing of beauty is a joy forever” and was an avid photographer of his beloved wife, children, grandchildren, cat (whom he taught to perform many tricks) and flowers. He loved collecting and working on mechanical cameras and watches. He was an enthusiastic gardener specializing in beefsteak tomatoes and roses of many varieties and an accomplished chef, cooking traditional Chinese dishes for his family to savor and enjoy. As we look back and reflect on his 88 years on this Earth, we can now unequivocally say that his life and devotion to his family were things of beauty.

Robert is survived by Joanne and two daughters Angela (partner Ryan Fallon, Mina and Archer) and Clara (spouse Wendy Erdly, Miles, Greta and Beatrix), both of Forest Hills, Queens. 

A funeral service for Robert will be held Friday, August 16, 2024 from 11:00am to 1:00pm at Fox Funeral Home, 98-07 Ascan Avenue, Forest Hills, NY 11375. Following the funeral service, there will be a luncheon for those who wish to attend at Canton Manor, 220-15 Northern Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

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