Obituary of Oak Soon Hong

Oak Soon (Sohn) Hong ROCHESTER, NY - Oak Soon (Sohn) Hong died Sunday evening, December 14, 2008 in Rochester, NY. She was 92. She was born Nov. 29. 1916 in Kaesung, Korea, just across the 38th parallel border established after the Korean War of 1950-53. Her mother was Soonee Jin and her father, who died before her birth, was Woo Jae Sohn. She was predeceased by 2 brothers and 2 sisters. On May 15, 1943 she married Eo Kil Hong in Seoul, Korea. He died Jan. 3, 1988. They were the parents of 3 sons and 5 daughters: Chung Sook Kim (deceased); Woo Young (Taisun) Hong of Bardonia, NY; Chung Hae (Moon Soo) Lee of Seattle, WA; Se June (Karen) Hong of Kingston, MA; Seran (John) Wilkie of Penfield, NY (with whom her mother lived most recently); Se Eun (Daniel) Eisenberg of Engelwood, FL; Se Won (Kum Ja) Hong of Conifer, CO; and Seyun (Donald) Toner of Appalachin, NY. There are 20 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She was educated in American missionary schools from kindergarten through high school. She graduated from Holston Girls High School in Kaesung, Korea. She earned a diploma from the Severance Nursing and Midwifery School in Seoul and a certificate from the Infant Welfare Institution in Melbourne, Australia (she was one of the first Korean women to win a scholarship to study abroad in Australia). She studied psychology at Maryland University and the University of Minnesota and earned a Bachelor of Social Work from Choong Ang Seminary in Seoul and a Masters in Education from Yonsei University in Seoul. She worked as Chief of the Nursing Bureau under the USA Military Government in Korea. She was one of the founders of the Korean Nursing Association and served as its first president. She was also the founding Dean of the School of Nursing of Kyung Hee University in Seoul. Her life-long interest in the welfare of orphan children led her in 1954 to establish the Child Placement Service in Korea which was responsible for placing over 2,000 mixed-blood children for adoption in the United States. In the 1960's she was Chief of the Nursing Affairs Office of the Korean Ministry of Health & Social Welfare and also worked with the Maryknoll Sisters School of Nursing in Korea. She received the Florence Nightingale Award from the International Red Cross in 1971 in recognition of her pioneering contributions to Korean nursing. In 1971 she and her husband immigrated to the U.S. where they became naturalized citizens. In the United States she worked as a nurse at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in NYC, as a nursing instructor at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY, as a nurse at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, NY, and as a coordinator for Long Island University's Korean Nursing Program in NY. After retirement she lived near Rochester, NY and then on Roosevelt Island where she volunteered for the Roosevelt Island Senior Association. She also enjoyed knitting and crocheting. Her specialty was tiny crocheted angels that she dipped into sugar water to stiffen. Memorial donations may be made by check to Yonsei University Alumni Nursing Scholarship Fund or to Kyung Hee University Oak Soon Hong Nursing Scholarship Fund. Please mail to her son Se June Hong, 61 West St., Kingston, MA 02364 so that he may acknowledge your contribution and forward it to the appropriate fund. Calling hours will be held on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home, Inc., 371 Hooker Ave., Poughkeepsie. There will be visitation on Saturday from 9am to 10 am at the funeral home and funeral services will follow visitation at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.