Culver City, CA, California - Dr. Martha Tih Hsu was born to Jeng-Peng Wang and Li-Yun Wang in a suburb of Qingdao, China, on October 16, 1935. When Communist forces captured Qingdao during the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Martha, her parents, and her baby brother were forced to flee to Taiwan. Martha spent her teenage years in Taipei, graduated from Taiwan National University in 1957 with a degree in chemistry, and emigrated to the United States in 1958 on a scholarship to Boston University, where she received her PhD in Chemistry in 1965, with a postdoc position at Brandeis University.

In 1965 she married Yu Kao Hsu, and they moved to Morgantown, West Virginia, to join the faculty at West Virginia University, where she was also a postdoc. Their children, Timothy and Melinda, were born in Morgantown, and in 1971 the family relocated to Bangor, Maine, so that Martha and Yu Kao could accept faculty positions at the University of Maine at Orono. Martha taught chemistry there prior to becoming the Chief Chemist for Research and Testing at the Maine Department of Transportation, a position she held for 20 years. Following her retirement in 1999, she volunteered every week in the gift shop at St. Joseph Hospital and enjoyed her favorite pursuits, which included symphony concerts, classic movies, mystery novels, painting, knitting, cribbage, and avidly following Red Sox baseball. After her husband passed away, Martha moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to be close to her children and grandchildren, and was embraced by new and old friends.

Martha's faith was a central part of her life. She and her husband were devoted members of St. John's Catholic Church for 40 years in Bangor. In Los Angeles, she was a loyal attender of Knox Presbyterian Church as well as an active member of its Laderians social outreach group, and truly loved the fellowship of both communities.

Martha passed away peacefully at home in hospice on September 11, 2023, with her children and her pastor by her side. She was preceded in death by her husband, Yu Kao; and by her younger sister, Yong-Fang Wang, who died in childhood. She is survived by her son, Timothy and his wife, Rita Hao, of San Francisco; her daughter, Melinda of Los Angeles; her grandchildren, Casey, Jackson and Hazel; her brother, Kai Wang; her sister, Nancy Wang; and a multitude of beloved relatives and cherished friends all over the world.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, November 11, at Knox Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. Gifts in Martha's memory may be sent to Knox Presbyterian or the Laderians of Knox, both via KnoxPresLA.org.