Thomas J. K. Tung

Thomas J. K. Tung passed away on December 24, 2022; beloved husband of the late Dorothy Tung; devoted father of Jeany Lundberg, Thomas Tung, Jr., and William Tung; Cherished grandfather of 9 grandchildren; also survived by many brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews.

Dr. Tung came from very humble beginnings and remained humble throughout his life. He was born in Taiwan in 1934 into a very large family (one of thirteen). He was very poor growing up and told stories of scrounging the fields for food. He also remembered the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and running to shelter with a sibling on his back during the air raid bombs by US war planes during WWII. He earned his medical degree in 1960 at National Taiwan University College of Medicine and finished his surgical residency at National Taiwan University Hospital in 1964. He married Dorothy who was a high school English teacher in 1962. Dr. Tung then came to the US to Massachusetts General Hospital as a surgical fellow but in 1967, he switched to an anesthesiology residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital where he remained after finishing his residency to eventually become full professor in 2001.

While Dr. Tung was in Boston, Dorothy flew with their 2 yr. old daughter Jeany and 4-month-old son Thomas to be reunited. Their third child William was subsequently born in the US. Dorothy worked very hard to support her husband's career and further her children's education while also starting her own career as a nurse. All three of his children as well as numerous extended family members became physicians due to Dr. Tung's urging, advice and mentoring. He offered so many amazing educational opportunities to his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and many, many more.

Dr. Tung gave over 4 decades of clinical service to the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was an enormously talented clinician and so many 'Tommy Tung" stories abound in the Dept. of Anesthesiology. He was described as "fearless" by many colleagues and his abilities to intubate and place IV's were almost legendary. In addition to being a fantastic anesthesiologist, he also taught and mentored generations of residents/trainees at Hopkins. Dr. Tung's true love though was research (with many publications) and even after retiring from clinical duties, he continued to work in the lab aiding other anesthesiologists almost up to the end.

In 2005, Dorothy was killed in a tragic car accident in Japan. Dr. Tung established the Thomas and Dorothy Tung professorship in love and admiration for his beloved wife and to commemorate his lifelong relationship with Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Dr. Tung was described by his family as stubborn (extremely!), selfless, thrifty and relentlessly hard working. Dr. Tung has left an amazing legacy of service, mentorship and generosity.

The family will receive friends in the Lemmon Funeral Home of Dulaney Valley, Inc. 10 W. Padonia Road (at York Road) Timonium, Maryland 21093 on Thursday, January 5 and Friday, January 6 from 5 to 7pm. Dr. Tung’s life will be celebrated at the funeral Home on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 4pm. Interment Private.

In lieu of flowers, we invite people to make donations in Dr Tung's name to his current charity (Taiwan Medical University), using

Give2Asia URL: https://give2asia.org/tmu/

Or by mail to:

Give2Asia, 2201 Broadway, 4th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. Please include donor's name and "In Memory of Dr. Thomas J.K. Tung."