Philip Yoh

Philip Yoh - 91, of Carmel, IN passed away peacefully at his home in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 30, 2023, with his beloved wife Louise Annita Hui Yoh at his side.

Philip and Louise married in 1969 and for 30 years resided in Belmont, MA. They retired to the Siena Community in Las Vegas, NV from 2000 to 2016. In 2016, they moved to The Barrington Community in Carmel, IN to be closer to family.

Philip was the youngest of six children and was born on October 28, 1931, to Her Bei and Yu Yin Yoh in Shanghai, China.  In 1952, he moved to Hong Kong where he studied Civil Engineering in Hong Kong.  In May 1956, Philip immigrated to the United States under the refugee act and began his studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Due to financial challenges, Phil took a break from his studies to work and earn money to return to Illinois.  He was then drafted into the U.S. Army where he served proudly our country from 1956-1958.  After his service, he returned to his studies and completed his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at The University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, IL. Philip then pursued and completed his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the Leland Stanford Jr. University (Stanford University) in CA.  Philip then moved to the Boston, MA area where he worked for Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT University), NASA (until President Nixon closed the Cambridge, MA location in December 1969 right before Phil and Louise’s wedding!),  and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.  Phil retired from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2000 after he completed his final project of successfully guiding the organization through the Y2K transition earning him the nickname the “Y2K Man” from his colleagues.

Family and generosity were Philip’s key values.  Even though he was the youngest of six children, he became the patriarch of the Yoh family. He was well respected and admired by the younger generations of the Yoh family comprised of over 50 family members. Philip and Louise hosted and organized many family reunions where over 50 family members, spanning 4 generations, would spend quality time together.  These recurring reunions were key to having the many branches of the Yoh family develop and maintain close family relationships and foster the value of helping each other. Philip was also very generous, sharing his and Louise’s accumulated financial resources with many worthy organizations. This included funding scholarships in honor of his parents at Ningbo University in China and endowing two undergraduate scholarships at Stanford University.

Phil was a very knowledgeable and worldly person where he stayed on top of global political and economic affairs.  He was a voracious reader and up to his death continued to read and follow global matters. Philip was a highly intelligent, hard-working, man with an enormous heart and wonderful sense of humor and an infectious smile. He was very generous, loyal, and loving.  He was clever and full to the brim with knowledge gained through all his life experiences and avid reading and studying. He was also an avid tennis player and continued to play the game into his 80’s. He recently enjoyed watching the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Philip was predeceased by his father Her Bei and mother Yu Yin as well as his two older brothers and three older sisters:  Joseph Wei Qing Yoh; Paul Pao-Lo Wei Yu; Xiu Zhen Wang; Sophia Xiu Jiu Bao;  Xiu Min We; and a nephew Ming Wang.

 Philip is survived by wife Louise Annita Hui Yoh (Carmel, IN)  of 53+ years, his sister in law Josephine Yu,  nieces/nephews-Vivian (David) Kraines, James (Jennifer) Yoh, John (Hua) Yoh, Zhen (Fu Xia) Wang, Ming Wang’s souse Pei Fen, Jia (Mao Zhong Yi) Wang, Yi (Feng Ling) Wang Lois Luoyi (Zhong Guan)) Shao, Ruth (David) Chu, Jeffrey (Mei Ling) Yu, Linda (Alain) Yu-Picard , Moses Ma, and many grandnieces, grandnephews,  great grandnieces and great grandnephews.

Philip will be remembered for all the heart he shared with his family and friends. He truly loved each of them and if you knew him, you knew it. When his time came, he carried himself with dignity, strength, and full of love for those who went before him. He will be missed dearly.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like any memorial contributions to be made to the Wheeler Mission.  Checks can be mailed to Wheeler Mission, PO Box 3085, Indianapolis, IN 46206 or gifts can be made online at https://wheelermission.org/donate-to-wheeler (make sure and list Philip Yoh’s name under Tribute gift section).