Dr. David Yang Gyu Kim

David was born in Tokyo, Japan on March 6, 1930 to Yun Jik Kim and Gwang Hyup Kim. David was the eldest son of five children and spent most of his childhood in Haeju, North Korea and later in Seoul, South Korea. David escaped from North Korea in the years leading up to the Korean War and eventually served in the South Korean Navy. David obtained his medical degree from Severance Hospital Medical School at Yonsei University, the oldest Western-style hospital in South Korea. He completed his medical residency at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1950s, where he met and married his partner in life, Angelina Yuvienco Kim.

David and Angelina moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 1963, where they raised their four children. David was an avid golfer and enjoyed exploring fishing holes throughout the Greater Vancouver Area and Vancouver Island. David’s passion was medicine, and he was a dedicated obstetrician-gynecologist, bringing many lives into this world and proudly serving his Korean community as one of the first Korean physicians to settle in Vancouver. Throughout his life, David cherished his family. He was a devoted father and grandfather and, above all, husband. He mourned the loss of the love of his life each and every day since her passing. David instilled in his children a strong sense of duty, responsibility but also kindness and joie de vivre. Beneath his serious exterior, David had a soft heart full of love and a wisdom that comes with a life well lived. His humour and laughter will be missed by all those who were blessed to know him.

David is survived by his children, Linda, Paul, Catherine and Michelle; his grandchildren, Rebecca, Sara, Spencer, Ronin and Olivia; and his siblings, Joanne (Chung Nim), Julie (Chung Hae), and Eugene (Gene Gyu).

The Kim family would like to thank St. Vincent’s: Brock Fahrni, for their compassionate care for David especially since Angelina’s passing, as well as Vancouver General Hospital and its Dialysis Clinic where David spent many days during the last six years of his life. In lieu of flowers, we invite you to donate to the VGH Hospital Foundation or the Brock Fahrni St. Paul’s Foundation.