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WAY DONG WOO

1917 - 2016

WAY DONG WOO obituary, 1917-2016, Newton, MA

FUNERAL HOME

Eaton & Mackay Funeral Home

465 Centre St

Newton, Massachusetts

WAY WOO Obituary

WOO, Way Dong Of Newton, died October 21, 2016 exactly 3 months before his 100th birthday. He was the beloved husband of the late Emily Tefan Tsou and treasured father of Elaine Woo, Beverly Woo and her husband James Cunningham, David Woo and his wife Laurie Soojian Woo, Patricia Woo and her husband Steven Poretzky, Barbara Woo and her husband James Bryant. He was the proud grandfather of Michael Delfs and his wife Juhi Pande, Jonathan Cunningham, Emily Cunningham and her husband Jay Cohen, Christopher Woo, Kathryn Woo Coster and her husband John Coster, Kaylen Poretzky, Benjamin Poretzky, Jonathan Bryant and Alexandra Bryant. He was the youngest son of a Shanghai industrialist, who came to America in 1939, where he earned a doctorate in Applied Mathematics at Harvard University and went on to make significant contributions to the development of important twentieth century technologies, including television and personal computers. He bestowed on all who met him a ready and warm smile that came from a genuine happiness and contentment within. He loved music, tennis, good scotch at the end of the day, every opportunity to learn something new and interesting, and, most of all, he loved his family. He was constantly surprised that he had lived so long but he was always content with his life as happily and well lived and he openly embraced the prospect of the end of that life with joy and gratitude. He will be missed by many. Burial and memorial services will be private. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in his honor to the charity of your choice. You are invited to visit the website of the Eaton & Mackay Funeral Home www.eatonandmackay.com to send condolences. Eaton & Mackay Funeral Home 617-244-2034

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Published by Boston Globe from Oct. 25 to Oct. 26, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
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5 Entries

Robert Woo

November 13, 2016

I met Uncle Way Dong Woo 51 years ago after my parents moved out to Boston from San Francisco. He and Auntie Emily are very good friends with my parents as they often play mahjong together. During that time, I played tennis with him sometimes and learned to admire him as a very gentle, soft-spoken, and intelligent man. Since I moved away from Boston in 1969, I seldom get to see him anymore except for the few times we visited Boston and whenever he and Auntie Emily come out West especially the time when they attended the celebration of our parent's 90th birthdays. In more recent years after the passing of Auntie Emily, we have grown accustomed to seeing him every year when he comes out West with some of his children to visit Patty. We will certainly miss not seeing him this year. Our hearts and thoughts go out to all of his children and families today in memory of their loving father.

Love,
Bobby and Vicky Woo

carol come

October 27, 2016

I remember Dr. Woo's wonderful smile!
Dr. Woo and his lovely wife Emily Woo were neighbors of mine at Chestnut Hill Towers. We lived across the hall from each other and enjoyed seeing each other
as we came and went from our condos. It seemed that the two Woos always
had a tennis racket in their hand and I envied them the time and energy that they gave to the sport.
I met their lovely and loving family....very warm and friendly.
I miss those days and will always have fond memories of the Woos.

Sincerely,
Carol Come
Chestnut Hill Towers
Condo #1105s

Thomas Ford

October 27, 2016

I had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Woo for many years at Longwood. I distinctly remember one of my men's B singles matches. It was one of the first I ever played at the club. I must have been in my early 40s and Dr Woo was probably in his middle or late 60s it was one of the most competitive and difficult matches I have ever played in the Bs his drop shot was deadly to say the least. I remember him smiling and laughing throughout the match. As you can imagine we became great friends after that and we're always happy to see each other. He was a joy to be around. On a later occasion I happen to mention to Dr. Wu how I was trying to find some players for the professional tournament at the club. One of the players we were trying to recruit with very little success was Michael Chang. He told me he would look into it he called his friends at I believe Chinese cultural center in Boston and the next thing I knew Michael Chang was on his way to play the tournament. His brilliance and simplicity are the embodiment of an amazing amazing man. I feel very privilege to have known him. I will try to emulate many of these wonderful characteristics his great smile, his laugh his joy of life

Chauncey Chu

October 26, 2016

Way Dong and Emily had been friends of my late wife Margaret and I for over 60 years. In addition to being long time bridge partners and drinking buddies, Way Dong introduced me to the computer industry in the very early days which ultimately led me to become a player in computer manufacturing. It was an interesting and challenging experience to help Way Dong start the Kybe Corporation, which we initially named Cybertronics, Inc., in honor of Professor Norbert Wiener of MIT who coined the term. The initial product was the Digital Signal Generator, or the DPG which was an application of Way Dong's invention of the ferrite magnetic core memory. Unfortunately, even with the extremely limited memory size of only 1,000 bits, the product did not sell due to it high cost and limited applications. The next products, the Magnetic Tape Cleaner and followed by the Magnetic Disc Cleaner were much more successful. Kybe's success led it to be bought by the Denison Manufacturing Company who later became Avery Label company.

michelle plakas-kaiser

October 26, 2016

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Funeral services provided by:

Eaton & Mackay Funeral Home

465 Centre St, Newton, MA 02458

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