Gertrude Tsau

Gertrude Wen-Hwei Tsau, age 74, passed away Wednesday, January 1, 2014 at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. She was born March 26, 1939 in Chiayi City, Taiwan to the late Chen Ding-Chee and Lin Tsai-Luan.
Gertrude was an intellectual, equally comfortable in studying math, science, arts and music. She graduated with B.S. degrees in Physics and Chemistry from Taiwan Normal University and a M.S. in Physics from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Gertrude loved to teach and served as a substitute teacher & tutor throughout the Chicago suburbs during her career. She also taught Chinese language classes at Oakton Community College and privately. Gertrude enjoyed teaching her grandchildren violin, math concepts and Chinese.
Gertrude loved music and was a devoted violinist at the Community Symphony of the Music Institute of Chicago. Her own composition, "Fragrant Petal of the Heart", a piece for violin, cello and piano, was published as a finalist in a Taiwanese composition competition..
In recent years, Gertrude wrote books including Step by Step of How to Make Flower Float Applique (a technique she pioneered) and Mr. Lu's Tales. She has provided translation services & translated books (German or English to Mandarin).
Gertrude is survived by her husband, Josef Heng-Ko, son and daughter-in-law, John & Kris, daughter, Grace, grandchildren Ryan & Anika; and sisters Ji-Jung Chen, Wen-Rong (Gratias) Chen, Hsin-Hui (Marianne) Taylor and sister-in-law, Jin-Jhi Liu.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, 7 January at Warren Funeral Home, 1475 N. Cemetery Road, Gurnee, IL. Visitation will be held from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. with a service immediately following. Inurnment at Warren Cemetery & Mausoleum. Warren Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.