Li Ying Oldham, 58, passed away on July 23, 2016. She was a beloved wife and mother and we will remember her forever.
Born Ho Li Ying (何麗英) September 23, 1957 and raised in I-lan, at the time, a small village on the eastern coast of Taiwan. In school, she excelled in her study of English and she dreamed of coming to America. After graduating from Ming Chuan College in Taipei, Taiwan with an degree in International Trade, she worked for an international trading company, which led to the issuance of a travel visa. While visiting her sister in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1984 she met a young airman that would become her lifelong partner, friend, and lover. She followed him around the planet, ultimately moving 14 times before finally settling down in Austin, Texas. While she loved being a Texan, she always considered Shawnee, Oklahoma to be her adopted hometown.
Li Ying served in the U.S. Army Reserve, became a naturalized U.S. citizen, flew the flag on holidays, and voted nearly every election. She was never not Chinese, but she was American through and through.
Besides following and supporting her daughter's acting career, her biggest passions were shopping and running. She was an avid and disciplined runner that persevered through freezing blizzards and blazing heat. Food was also one of her loves. Not only was she a wonderful cook, she could also put it away. She could have easily won any number of competitive eating contests, but, in truth, she would rather just eat on the couch and watch crime dramas. She loved driving her convertible Mustang and she was a bit of a lead foot... no stranger to defensive driving courses. She was also a fair-weather Dallas Cowboys fan and she liked to wear OU Sooners gear just to mess with the Texans.
Li Ying was a very hard worker and, although being a mother was first and foremost, she was also a valued employee of various companies, including TDK Ferrites, Simplot, Technol (Kimberly-Clarke), Baldwin Brass, Direct Mailers, and Business Ink. Over the years she declined several promotion opportunities, preferring instead to be an individual producer or machine operator.
Li Ying was small in stature, but big in spirit. She had big hair and a big voice. She knew what she liked and everyone else knew what she didn't. She was a tough, opinionated woman that was determined to live life her own way, but her love for her family, including her cats, was whole-hearted and unconditional. She was a scrappy, pull no punches fighter and she successfully fought her breast cancer for more than 20 years. It ultimately metastasized to the bone and hope gave way to the inevitable. She had been in rapidly declining health for several months before being admitted to Hospice Austin's Christopher House, but her bubbly personality and infectious laugh remained almost until the end. Li Ying passed peacefully with her husband and daughter at her side.
A celebration of Li Ying's life was held on the evening of Thursday, July 28, 2016, southwest of Austin, in Bear Creek. Numerous family and friends were in attendance.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to Hospice Austin. Li Ying thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the support provided by their wonderfully capable and caring staff. A gofundme site for this purpose has been setup at www.gofundme.com/inhonorofliying
Though several photographs are posted here on the ForeverMissed site, a more complete library is available online at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/145586085@N07/collections/72157668649368894/
Li Ying was preceded in death by her parents, Ho Kuh Jzou and Chang Shu Lian. She is survived by her husband of 32 years, Ronnie Max Oldham, of Austin, Texas, and her daughter and son-in-law, Fiona Rene and Jamie Brown, of West Hollywood, California. Li Ying's sparkle, zeal for life, and indomitable spirit live on in her precious and only child. She is also survived by sister, Li Chin Ho, and nephew Robert Ho, of Alhambra, California; sister and brother-in-law, Hsiao Mei and Wayne Walker, of Kingsport, Tennessee; brother, Ho Jian Hua, and nieces Ho Tsu Han and Ho Su Shang, of Taoyuan, Taiwan; nephew, Brian Walker, of Atlanta, Georgia; and niece, Stephanie Walker, also of Kingsport, Tennessee.
