Naijun Yang

Naijun Yang, age 78, passed away at St Joseph hospital in Denver, Colorado on Dec 17, 2023. He was born in Beijing, China and was the top graduate from Communication University of China. Upon graduation, he was assigned to work in Wuhan, Hubei, where he met and fell immediately in love with Shifang Zhou. They got married five years later on September 28, 1973 and moved to Denver, CO in 2011 to live close to their only child Ying. 

Mr. Yang was gifted with a deep rich voice, which provided him many amazing opportunities as the top news anchorman in Hubei broadcasting station, including accompanying former Premier Zhou’s visit in 1967.   He had to leave this career due to unfortunate circumstances, but found a lifelong passion in teaching when he became a renowned world history and geography instructor to thousands of students. 

He had a great sense of humor and always enjoyed fashion, photography and travel. In addition, he loved to collect antiques from coins, stamps, to paintings and more. But what he loved the most was cooking. He loved to cook all kinds of cuisines and became a master in replicating any delicious dish he had from restaurants without hesitation. When he was in China, he liked to entertain friends with his cooking and stories. When he got ill with limited mobility, he still enjoyed watching news, sports, particularly his granddaughter’s ice skating and dancing. 

Mr. Yang is survived by his wife, Shifang, daughter, Ying, son-in-law Kevin, and two grandchildren, Karissa and Kayla. He is also survived by two siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins and many friends both in China and US.  

Funeral services will take place at Horan & McConaty, 11150 E Dartmouth Ave in Aurora on Saturday, December 23 at 12p. For those that wish to join, a dinner will be held at Old Town Hot Pot at 2852 S Havana St at approximately 3:00p.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Mr. Yang's honor to Denver Synchronicity: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/Denversynchronicity