感謝-悼念好友莊勝義博士
文／王泰澤、張喜久（Taitzer and Judy Wang）
我們現在住在美國俄州辛辛那提市（Cincinnati, Ohio)，謹在此向德州休斯頓城 (Houston, Texas) 亡友莊勝義家人致上最深切的哀悼。
1963〜1967 年 休城是我們的美國故鄉
我於 1963 年 8 月底出國留學，進休斯頓萊斯大學 (Rice University) 化學系。喜久於 1965 年來休斯敦大學（University of Houston)，攻讀微生物學碩士學位。55 年前 1965 年秋天，我在萊斯大學認識莊勝義同鄉，他也是我的母校國立台灣大學的畢業生。他攻讀化工系。一個化學，一個化工，問我「貴庚」，虛度三載。
那段日子裡，我們忙於課程，校園、社區生活平淡。但是，休城當年僅有的二十來位年輕台灣同鄉偶爾聚會，中秋節在城裏的赫爾曼公園（Hermann Park）一邊唱台灣民謠，一邊賞月，以及有時週末傍晚，常由萊斯大學化工系張燦鍙兄帶頭，前往五十英里外墨西哥灣靠岸的加爾維斯頓小島（Galveston），用雞骨肉釣螃蟹，都還留有難忘的記憶。
兩年的時間，足以讓我和勝義成為好友。特別是，我一直感到幸運，勝義是我在困難中，有幸遇到的好友（A friend in need is a friend indeed)。懷著感恩的回憶，讓我用下一張照片，簡述勝義在 1967 年炎熱的夏天如何幫助我度過困難的日子。
圖／王泰澤提供
1967 年，我於 5 月 5 日通過化學博士口試，五天後接受了小兒麻痺症相關的右足踝矯正手術，並在手術後第二個禮拜六，參加博士畢業典禮。暑假期間，勝義幫助我租了兩個月的公寓，他和我住在一起，我拿著拐杖無法輕易完成的日常瑣事，他都預先準備幫助我，使我可以安心接受手術醫療，後來還能親自參加全校畢業典禮，高高興興的上台親手接受 Kenneth Pitzer 校長頒發給我的博士證書，不必等待郵寄。那確實是一個「焉知非福」的美好夏天，在很多方面，我都要感謝勝義。
1968 年 勝義和郁芳參加我們的婚禮
過後，我前往佛羅里達州都城塔拉哈西（Tallahassee, Florida)，在州立大學從事博士後研究。一年多後，我回休城，於 1968 年 12 月 21 日在一間衛理公會教堂與喜久結婚。勝義和郁芳夫婦是我們婚禮上的大幫手。以下是婚禮嘉賓合影：
圖／王泰澤提供
圖／王泰澤提供
1971〜1977 年 我們重回休城
1971年，因我的專行是理論有機化學，求職困難，決定改行，從後博士生物化學研究著手。剛好有機會，我又搬回故鄉休城，在貝勒大學（Baylor University）醫學院生化系，開始新的酶反應動力學機制研究。郁芳和勝義夫婦，幫助我們在休城安頓下來。喜久、幼女和我，在他們居住的 Timberside 公寓園區，搬進了足可安居的住宿。
這次在休城生活的六年間，我們兩家的家庭生活各有進展，亮點包括：都買了獨家住屋，成了房主，和孩子們一起享受美滿的家庭生活。莊家有二個小壯丁，而我們王家有三個小千金。
台獨聯盟《望春風》月刊
在蠟紙謄寫、油印的那個年代，莊、王二家，和一位熱心的休城大學台灣留學生洪淑昭小姐，出版日前幾晚，經常在我們的寓所餐桌上，工作到午夜。寫好定稿蠟紙，趕上另一組熱心同鄉臨時幫手，印刷、出版、郵寄。我們滿懷對未來的希望，月月認真編輯、出版。值得欣慰的是，我們參與了出版台獨聯盟刊物，那是只有少數人願意勇於承擔的工作。眾所周知，國民黨在台灣解除總共 38 年戒嚴的 15 年前，派出在美國主要大學校園打小報告的職業學生，已經相當活躍。
「患難見真情 — 患難相共的朋友，才是真正的朋友」。我們很幸運有過像莊勝義博士那樣獻身公益、終生愛護故鄉的台灣朋友。（寫於 Cincinnati, OH, USA, 2020 年 5 月 9 日，台、美 WebEx 視頻「莊勝義博士追思會」前。)
英文
Our deepest condolences to the Chuangs and their families. We are Taitzer and Judy Wang, old friends now living in Cincinnati, OH.
1963 – 1967 Our first home in the States: Houston, Texas
I arrived at Rice University’s Department of Chemistry in summer 1963, and Judy began Microbiology studies at the University of Houston in 1965 for her master degree. It was in the summer of 1965, 55 long years ago, when I met Sheng-yi Chuang on the Rice campus. He was a Chemical Engineering student from National Taiwan University (NTU), also my alma mater. I graduated from NTU Chemistry Department three years earlier.
Student life on and off campus was generally uneventful in those days, while we were busy with coursework. Occasional gatherings of the twenty or so students from Taiwan were memorable, however, such as the mid-autumn Moon Festival at nearby Hermann Park singing Taiwanese folks songs and enjoying the full moon, and, often initiated by George T. Chang 張燦鍙 of Rice Chemical Engineering Department, and occasional weekend evening crabbing trips to Galveston Bay, an inlet of Gulf of Mexico, fifty miles away.
As it turned out, two years was long enough for Sheng-yi and me to become good friends. Especially for me, as lucky as I had always felt, Sheng-yi was the one whom I’d think of as truly characterizing the saying, “a friend in need is a friend indeed.” With grateful memory let me use the following photo (see Chinese version above) to show how Sheng-yi helped me in the warm summer days of 1967.
In 1967 I passed my PhD oral exam on May 5; underwent polio-related ankle corrective surgery five days later; and participated in commencement exercises on the Saturday two weeks following the operation. During the summer, Sheng-yi helped me rent an apartment for two months so that, living together, he could — as he had already planned to — aide me in daily chores that I could not expect to perform well while on crutches. His generous assistance allowed me to undergo the surgery with peace of mind, and later to receive in person my doctoral chemistry degree diploma from President Kenneth S. Pitzer at commencement exercises, rather than wait for it to arrive by mail. It was indeed a blessing-in-disguise, beautiful summer, and in many ways I owe my gratitude to Sheng-yi.
1968 Sheng-yi and Felicia helped at our wedding
I next went to Tallahassee, Florida, for my first postdoctoral job at Florida State University. I travelled back to Houston briefly for my wedding to Judy at a Southern Methodist Church on December 21st, 1968. Felicia and Sheng-yi were two big helpers at the wedding. Our friends at the ceremony are shown in the photos below(see Chinese version above).
1971 – 1977 We were back to Houston again
In 1971, it’s rather difficult for physical organic chemists to find permanent jobs. I decided to make a change in my research career from chemistry to biochemistry. Luckily, there was a postdoctoral job opening at Biochemistry Department Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. So we moved back to Houston to start my new research in kinetic mechanisms of enzyme reactions. Felicia and Sheng-yi helped us settle down in Houston, and Judy, our new baby girl, and I moved in a comfortable apartment in the Timberside Apartment Complex where they lived.
The highlights of this six-year stay in Houston for the two families included becoming homeowners and enjoying family life with children: two sons for the Chuangs and three daughters for us.
WUFI 《望春風》Monthly
In addition, Sheng-yi and I, though not members of World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI), were recruited by local WUFI members to take charge of publishing WUFI’s monthly magazine, Longing for Spring Breeze 《望春風》, founded by Dr. Carry Hung 洪哲勝. We also hosted lectures. The invited lecturers were Professor Peng Ming-min who had just fled Taiwan and came to the States via Sweden, and Professor Chen Lung-chu 陳隆志, a Law Professor and WUFI member. 葉國勢、李麗珍夫婦和廖明徵、郭珠貞夫婦等朋友 gave us steady help and encouragement. I managed an Editorial Board including nine editors, loosely including an Editor-in-Chief, an Assistant Editor, and seven field editors, who formed smaller groups and each group took turns to help examine and approve the manuscripts contributed by Taiwan compatriots abroad. Together, we produced six issues, which were (to the best of my recollection) Nos. 29 – 34 (1971-1972).
On the evenings close to the monthly publication date, the Chuang – Wang families, with the help of an enthusiastic UH student, Helen Hong 洪淑昭, often worked until nearly midnight, getting wax paper written-ready with all articles for mimeograph machine printing. In those days of stencil duplication we approached the unrelenting, repetitive editing and publishing, with alacrity and hope for the future. Our consolation was our productivity at a task which only a few would be willing to undertake, as it was well before the Kuomintang’s 38-year period of martial law in Taiwan was lifted; KMT student informants were already known to be active on major university campuses in the States.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed.” We are fortunate to have had such a friend as Dr. Sheng-yi Chuang, who was so dedicated to public welfare and loves his homeland all his life. (Written in Cincinnati, OH, USA, before Dr. Sheng-yi Chuang’s USA-Taiwan WebEx video memorial service on May 9, 2020.)
Source from Dr. T. Wang/Ohio/2020
Posted in 05/2020
