Obituary of Peter Ma

Peter Ma, age 63, a committed family man of Iowa City passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 16, 2018, at his home surrounded by his loving family.

There will be a time for family and friends to gather from 1 to 3 pm Saturday, September 22, 2018, at the Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service.  To commemorate his life and hard fought battle with lung cancer, in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the American Cancer Society in his name.

Man-Lung Peter Ma was born May 26, 1955, in Hong Kong, where he completed his college education, married his long time sweetheart, Wendy, and started a family.  Dedicated to their family, he gave up a successful business career at Imperial Chemical Industries to immigrate their family to Iowa City in order to provide better opportunities for their children.  Determined to provide a wonderful life for their family, he built a new career in Chemistry working at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory.  Peter was a caring person.  He enjoyed growing flowers, among his favorite are African Violets.  Friends and family frequently complement his wonderful flower collection and he will happily share some of his flowers. Most of all, his greatest joy was spending time with his family:  taking care of his wife, raising their children and helping them build fulfilling lives of their own. 

Peter is survived by his wife, Wendy, their children, Stephanie Anker and her husband, Matt; and Derek and his wife, Claire and their daughter, Hazel; Peter’s older siblings, Hector Ma (Sheila), Jennifer Ma (Cho Leung), Cynthia Chow, and Mei-Lee Ma; his brother in-laws Chung-Kay Cheung (Yim-Fong), Patrick Cheung (Lisa), Stephen Cheung (Judy), and sister in-law Wenda Cheung; many nieces and nephews.  Peter was preceded in death by his parents, Yum and Chun-Lau Ma; father-in-law Hung-Ying Cheung, mother-in-law Yee Chan and a brother-in-law, Yun-Ken Chow.