Click on head for link to the San Jose Mercury News

BY ROXANNE STITES
Mercury News 

Early word was no Silicon Valley residents were victims of Singapore Airlines Flight SQ006. But on Wednesday, after listening to horrific tales from a distance, employees at IBM Corp. in San Jose learned the tragedy had struck closer than realized.

One of the passengers who couldn't escape the flaming wreckage, they were told, was Tina Eugenia Yeh, a 39-year-old Cupertino resident and a finance manager at their office.

``I keep hoping somebody is going to say `no, she never got on that plane,' or `she's one of the survivors,' but the whole day has gone by and nobody has walked up and said that,'' said Rachel Garay, Tina's secretary, who, along with other employees, learned about her boss' death Wednesday morning.

Acquaintances and co-workers of Yeh said she had long planned the trip to Taiwan with her father, Ying Lieh Yeh, 68, of Avon, Conn.; and an aunt, Chi Fua Yeh of Houston, Texas.

The trio of relatives, all of which are presumed dead, are believed to have been traversing Taiwan and other areas visiting relatives.

The Yehs were among 179 people aboard the craft that, upon takeoff, burst into flames at Taiwan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport on Tuesday. At least 79 people were killed, 39 were hospitalized and 61 suffered minor injuries or escaped unhurt. The airline, meanwhile, released a list of 80 people who it said were ``dead or unaccounted for.''

Massoud Dabir of Santa Cruz was among the survivors, according to the list.

Tina, who was scheduled to return to work today, was a cost systems and control manager for IBM on Cottle Road. Co-workers said she
lived alone in a duplex at Valley Green Apartments in Cupertino, was not married and had no children. 
She was also an only child to Ying, also known as ``Clem,'' and Rita Yeh.

Betty Stevens, a next-door neighbor of the Yehs in Connecticut, said Rita Yeh shared the sad news Wednesday morning before leaving for
Los Angeles with dental records to help identify her husband's remains.

Stevens had already feared Clem and Tina Yeh were on the downed plane. Then, after seeing her face, ``I knew the worst,'' she said. ``She lost everything in a second.''

Stevens threw her arms around her.

``There are parents who are obnoxious about their children's accomplishments,'' Stevens said. Their comments about Tina were much more reserved, she said, but just as profound. ``For them, it was the little things. ... They were just so proud of her.''

Garay, Tina Yeh's secretary, described her boss as a hard-working career woman. Someone who arrived to work early -- long before her -- and would still be there hunched over paperwork as other employees called it a day.

``She was full of energy and always on the go, a real inspiration to me,'' Garay said. ``From day one that I started working in her department, she was incredibly nice to me. I have wonderful memories. She'll be missed.''

Back