Eleanor Ke-Yin Hung

Eleanor was born in 1935 in Jilin City, China, the oldest of three siblings, Because of Japan’s ongoing invasion of this part of China at the time, her family was regularly on the move. In addition, her father was often away from the family for work and schooling so she was often thrust into responsibilities way beyond her age because of these circumstances. Unfortunately her family lost everything. Eventually ending up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, she attended and excelled in high school and college before gaining a scholarship to attend graduate school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She did not speak English at the time and being the only student of Chinese descent, was interviewed in the local paper.

After graduation with a Master’s degree in biochemistry, she joined her future husband, Frank, who she had met while still in Taiwan, and they eventually married and settled in Nashville, Tennessee and Huntsville, Alabama and had two children, Youndy and Libby. They befriended other immigrants from China and Taiwan, many who became lifelong friends. Because of Libby’s disabilities, they decided in 1973 to move to California where resources for the disabled were better and settled in Orange County where they would spend the rest of their lives.

Eleanor dedicated her life to Libby, finding the best doctors, physical therapists, and schools for her, as well as spending significant time herself trying to strengthen Libby’s body and teaching her how to walk and talk. In addition, she had a successful career as a biomedical researcher at UC Irvine and was instrumental in numerous discoveries still in use today including the ECMO life support system.

Even with this busy schedule, she still managed to have a full, enriched life full of traveling the world, gardening, spending time with her beloved grandson Andrew, and entertaining a large circle of friends at home, always including Libby. After being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2024, she fought valiantly and stayed positive; however, she eventually succumbed and passed away peacefully on December 1, 2025 amongst family and friends. She will always be remembered and dearly missed for her sunny and vigorous spirit for life and the kindness and thoughtfulness she extended to both friends and strangers.