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Contact Info
Home Town Honolulu
Last Address Dubuque, Iowa. Mount Calvary Cemetery.
Date of Passing May 26, 2014
Location of Interment Mount Calvary Cemetery - Dubuque, Iowa
LCdr, Dr. Newton Chun, MD Hawaii Territorial Guard and ROTC WWII, Korean War, Ret. U.S.N.R
Dr. Newton Chun was born on June 3, 1923 at Queens Hospital in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Growing up in Hawaii made for idyllic childhood. As a boy, the lush island paradise, including a pristine and undeveloped Waikiki Beach was his backyard and playground. His father died young and his mother, a Korean picture bride*, had to struggle to raise five children on her own during the Great Depression. Wishing for them a better life, she stressed the importance of higher education.
Newton dedicated himself to the rigors of the classroom. After graduating from Farrington High School he enrolled at the University of Hawaii where he hoped to lay the academic groundwork that would enable him to pursue a medical career. However, his plans were interrupted when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
In addition to his academic responsibilities at the University of Hawaii Newton was also a member of the schools venerable Hawaii Territorial Guard. This was the only senior ROTC unit in the country to see active duty during World War II. Cadet Newton Chun assisted the U.S. Armed Forces by lending his services as an ambulance driver. Being in such close contact with wounded soldiers and civilians was a profound experience for a young pre-med student. Not only did it strengthen his resolve to become a doctor, it made him consider the possibility of making surgery his specialty.
During the war years, the University of Hawaii temporarily closed its doors, forcing Newton to abandon his studies. Realizing that the dream of one day becoming a surgeon was in jeopardy, he immediately applied to medical schools on the mainland. In the interim, he worked at nearby Ford Island as an airplane mechanic while he waited for someone in college admissions office to rubber-stamp one of his applications. He was a reporter of university's newspaper, the Ka Leo o Hawaii until 1945. His excellent grades earned him a nod from Northwestern University. It was here where he received his B.S., M.S., and M.D. degrees.
After graduation from Northwestern medical school he fulfilled his surgical residency at nearby Presbyterian Hospital. Fascinated by the rapid advances being made in heart surgery, he decided to focus his attention on this burgeoning medical field. He completed his thoracic residency at Children's Memorial Hospital and the Chicago State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, and a fellowship in cardio-vascular surgery at the world-renowned Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Brown Mills, New Jersey.
After completing his medical training, he married Dubuquer Rosemarie Peschang on December 26, 1952 at Chicago's St. Jarlath's Catholic Church. The couple's marital bliss however was cut short when Newton was drafted into the Korean war after serving on a Pacific tour as Ships Medical Officer. Stationed in San Diego, where he served at the Balboa Naval Hospital. After the war he remained in the Naval Reserve, in Dubuque IA, for 16 years. Honorably discharged, he retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, the most senior of the junior officer ranks.
Other Comments:
Dr. Newton Chun, MD, was a board certified thoracic surgeon in Dubuque, Iowa.
Certifications & Licensure:
American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery.
American Board of Surgery, Surgery.
Awards, Honors, & Recognition:
Fellow (FACS), American College of Surgeons.
Professional Memberships:
American College of Surgeons - ACS, Member.
*The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada selecting brides from their native countries via a matchmaker, who paired bride and groom using only photographs and family recommendations of the possible candidates. This is an abbreviated form of the traditional matchmaking process, and is similar in a number of ways to the concept of the mail-order bride.
Obituary for Dr. Newton Chun
Date
May 26, 2014
Last Updated: Jan 31, 2017
Comments
Dr. Newton Chun, 90, of Dubuque, died Monday, May 26, 2014 at Stonehill Care Center of natural causes.
Services will be held 1 p.m., Saturday, May 31, at St. Columbkille Catholic Church. Burial will be held in Mount Calvary Cemetery. Friends may call from 11:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., Saturday at the Church.
Newton was born on June 3, 1923 at Queens Hospital in Honolulu. Growing up in Hawaii made for idyllic childhood. As a boy, the lush island paradise, including a pristine and undeveloped Waikiki Beach was his backyard and playground. His father died young and his mother, a Korean picture bride, had to struggle to raise five children on her own during the Great Depression. Wishing for them a better life, she stressed the importance of higher education.
Newton dedicated himself to the rigors of the classroom. After graduating from Farrington High School he enrolled at the University of Hawaii where he hoped to lay the academic groundwork that would enable him to pursue a medical career. However, his plans were interrupted when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
In addition to his academic responsibilities at the University of Hawaii Newton was also a member of the schools venerable Hawaii Territorial Guard. This was the only senior ROTC unit in the country to see active duty during World War II. Cadet Newton Chun assisted the U.S. Armed Forces by lending his services as an ambulance driver. Being in such close contact with wounded soldiers and civilians was a profound experience for a young pre-med student. Not only did it strengthen his resolve to become a doctor, it made him consider the possibility of making surgery his specialty.
During the war years, the University of Hawaii temporarily closed its doors, forcing Newton to abandon his studies. Realizing that the dream of one day becoming a surgeon was in jeopardy, he immediately applied to medical schools on the mainland. In the interim, he worked at nearby Ford Island as an airplane mechanic while he waited for someone in college admissions office to rubber-stamp one of his applications. His excellent grades earned him a nod from Northwestern University. It was here where he received his B.S., M.S., and M.D. degrees.
After graduation from Northwestern medical school he fulfilled his surgical residency at nearby Presbyterian Hospital. Fascinated by the rapid advances being made in heart surgery, he decided to focus his attention on this burgeoning medical field. He completed his thoracic residency at Children's Memorial Hospital and the Chicago State Tuberculosis Sanitarium a fellowship in cardio- vascular surgery at the world- renowned Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Brown Mills, New Jersey.
After completing his medical training, he married Dubuquer Rosemarie Peschang on December 26, 1952 at Chicago's St. Jarlath's Catholic Church. The couple's marital bliss however was cut short when Newton was drafted into the Korean war after serving on a Pacific tour as Ships Medical Officer. Stationed in San Diego, where he served at the Balboa Naval Hospital. After the war he remained in the Naval Reserve for 16 years. Honorably discharged, he retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, the most senior of the junior officer ranks.
In the late 1950's Newton returned to Hawaii with his new bride to explore job opportunities and start a family. But his return to paradise was a failed experiment. In this instance at least, the familiar Thomas Wolfe line about outgrowing one's home town applied. Concerning his wife's prospects, however, the hoary aphorism proved stunningly inaccurate. Knowing her husband was open to suggestions on where to relocate, Rosemarie said Dubuque was "a fantastic place to settle down and have kids."
It was here, over 4,000 miles from Pearl Harbor, in a place where pineapple plantations and volcanic beaches gave way to corn fields and Mississippi mud, where a Hawaiian native's future was forged. After acclimating to his new surroundings, Newton prospered both in his private and professional life. He fathered six children and established a thriving private medical practice.
A compassionate man, he never turned away someone seeking treatment, no matter how dire their financial situation might be. Over the years, grateful patients from nearby rural towns supplied the Chun household with a steady stream of farm-raised meat and produce in order to pay off their medical bills.
Recognized as a top thoracic- cardiovascular surgeon, Newton was held high esteem by the local medical community and received numerous citations and awards. To accommodate his rapidly expanding patient list, Newton commissioned a spacious modern office building on John F. Kennedy Road in 1970. He was one of the first professionals to have the foresight and entrepreneurial spirit to stake a claim on Dubuque's up - and - coming West side.
In addition to his wife Rosemarie, all six Chun children survive him. Two daughters, four sons; Nicolette (Kenneth) Van Vleck of Palo Alto, CA. and Danielle (Michael) Schrenk of Cincinnati, OH; Rene (Jolande) Chun of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.; Dr. Noel (Dr. Mary Jo Ford) Chun, of Manhattan Beach, CA., Guy (Sandi) Chun of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Jon (Prof. Katherine Elkins) Chun of Gambier, OH. He also leaves fourteen grandchildren behind; Aidan and Alec Van Vleck; Ava and Owen Chun; Delaney and Ryan Schrenk; Cheyenne, Dakota and Sequoia Chun; Nicholas and Miranda Chun; Beckett, Mateo and Nicolas Elkins. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers and a sister. Memorials may be given to St. Columbkille Catholic Church.
The Egelhof, Siegert and Casper Westview Funeral Home and Crematory, 2659 JFK Road is in charge of the arrangements.
'A' ohe loa i ka hana a ke aloha ("Distance is ignored by love"; Hawaiian Proverb).
