Clara HoSang

Clara (Chin) HoSang, 89, passed away peacefully on October 22, 2025, in Appleton, Wisconsin.

She was born on October 5, 1936, in Lewiston, Maine to Ruby and Harry Chin and raised in the Bronx, New York with her three younger siblings, Antoinette (Toni), Chester and Peter. She grew up working at her family’s shirt pressing company after school, attending Chinese School on the weekends, and spending summers with siblings and cousins at the Stoltzfus family farm in Pennsylvania through the Fresh Air Fund. She accepted Christ during one of the summers on the farm, which led to a long life sustained by a strong faith and love of the Lord.

Clara met Victor, the love of her life, in 1955 while he was a freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. They met by chance at a McBurney YMCA dance in Manhattan and dated long distance while he was upstate at school. They married on his graduation weekend in June 1958 and celebrated 60 years together. She and Victor lived in the Bronx and Dumont, New Jersey, later relocating to their home of 47 years in Alexandria, Virginia.

Always creative and artistic, Clara was skilled seamstress. She graduated from The Central High School of Needle Trades in 1954 and later attended the Fashion Institute of New York (FIT) to study dress design. Clara was creative and expressed her artistry through watercolor and oil painting, taking many classes at the Torpedo factory in Alexandria, Virginia. She crocheted many afghans and expressed herself through poetry. She was a member of the Mount Vernon Garden Club for many years and honed her skills as an avid gardener in her backyard garden, full of fragrant roses, tulips and lilies. As her husband Victor would say, “your mom can make anything beautiful”. She was also a wonderful baker and loved to bake for others. Her kitchen was often filled with the scent of cookies and cakes.

Family was the most important thing to Clara. She and Victor gave birth to their only child, Angela, in 1969. She was a full-time mom to Angela, mother-in-law to Kevin, and a proud grandmother to her three grandchildren, Emilie, Michael and Ava. She and Victor were thrilled to move to Appleton in 2015 and Clara was grateful to be able to spend her later years surrounded by family. She will be remembered for her kindness, eternal patience, compassion, and her strong faith.

Clara was preceded in death by her husband, Victor HoSang, her parents, and her brother Chester Chin. She is survived by her daughter Angela (Kevin) Gilligan, her grandchildren, Emilie, Michael and Ava, her sister Toni (Bill) Chin, brother Peter (Marilyn) Chin, and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Please join us in celebrating Clara’s life Saturday November 22, 2025. There will be a visitation from 10 – 11 with a memorial service at 11 at Wichman’s Funeral home, 537 N Superior St in Appleton, Wisconsin.