Joseph Yuan-Kong Peng, 86, of Rockville, Maryland, passed away peacefully on July 27, 2026, at Georgetown University Hospital, overseen by his family. Joseph was born on June 19, 1940, in Chengdu, China. In 1968, Joseph arrived in America seeking opportunity and prosperity as his father had promised. This promise drove him to many great things. He was the anchor in the US to help his siblings, cousins, and mother immigrate to the United States.

Joseph’s career started as an engineer at McDonnell Douglas and Martin Marietta, working on the Space Shuttle external fuel tank. He transitioned to the US Postal Service in 1977. There he raised the status of US stamps, and pushed the technical limits of stamps including, self-adhesive, ATM, and holographic stamps while working on general stamp printing. He was in charge of the content of the stamps making sure that the paper, adhesive and inks were food safe. Later, he was in charge of the stamp programs introducing new stamps including a Chinese zodiac stamp series which features the 12 zodiac signs in their corresponding year. Also, he led the production of the first jointly issued stamp with China which featured cranes, a divine bird in Asian culture. While working, he also continued his education, putting himself through Master’s degree engineering programs.

Joseph met his wife, Alice, at a gathering in Disneyland in 1969 and married that same year. Together they raised two children, Marcus and Margaret, rooting themselves in Rockville, in 1977. While he enjoyed many things, he loved to express his pride in his family and always found ways to spoil his seven grandchildren along with Margaret’s dogs. He is survived by his wife, children, his siblings, Martin, Willie, John, Wendell, and Tony, and his grandchildren, Allison, Joseph, Matthew, John, Elizabeth, Sophia, and Andrew.

A memorial service is pending. In lieu of flowers or gifts, donations may be made to Montgomery County’s Manna Food Center or your cherished charity.

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約瑟夫·袁孔·彭，享年86歲，於2026年7月27日在喬治城大學醫院安詳辭世，家人陪伴在側。約瑟夫於1940年6月19日出生於中國成都。1968年，他來到美國，追尋父親許下的機會和財富承諾。這份承諾激勵他成就了許多偉大的事業。他是家人移民美國的依靠，協助兄弟姊妹、堂表兄弟姊妹和母親移民美國。

約瑟夫的職業生涯始於 McDonald Douglass 公司和 Martin Marietta 公司的工程師，參與了太空梭外燃料箱的研發工作。1977年，他轉入美國郵政局。在那裡，他提升了美國郵票的地位，並不斷突破郵票的技術極限，包括自黏郵票、ATM郵票和全息郵票，同時也負責郵票的印刷工作。他負責郵票的內容，確保紙張、黏合劑和油墨均符合食品安全標準。後來，他負責郵票發行項目，推出了一系列新郵票，其中包括一套以十二生肖及其對應年份為主題的中國生肖郵票。此外，他也主導製作了美國與中國聯合發行的第一枚郵票，郵票圖案為兩種瀕危鶴類——北美洲的美洲鶴與中國的黑頸鶴，象徵兩國友誼與野生動物保育。工作之餘，他堅持深造，攻讀了工程碩士學位。

1969年，約瑟夫在迪士尼樂園的聚會中結識了妻子愛麗絲，並於同年結婚。他們育有兩個孩子，Marcus 和 Margaret ，並於1977年在羅克維爾定居。他熱愛生活，尤其珍惜家庭，總是想辦法寵愛他的七個孫子以及瑪格麗特的愛犬。他身後留下了妻子、子女、兄弟姐妹：Willie， Martin， John， Wendell，和 Tony; 以及他的孫輩們： Allison, Joseph, Matthew, John, Elizabeth, Sophia, and Andrew。