Hyo Hyun Byun MD

Hyo Hyun Byun, M.D., Ph.D., 88, of Northbrook passed away on Saturday, Jan. 23, at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. He was born in Seoul, Korea in 1929 and graduated from Yonsei University Medical College in 1950. For serving in the ROK Army Medical Corps during the Korean War, he received Hwa-Rang Medal of Distinguished Military Services from Republic of Korea Military.

He came to Chicago in 1956 and completed his residency in radiology at Cook County Hospital and later served as director of nuclear medicine there as well as at Loyola Medical Center and Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He was also chairman of the department of radiology at Edgewater Hospital during the 1980s and taught numerous classes and lectured at the Chicago Medical School while he was vice chairman of the department of radiology at University of Health Sciences. Upon retiring from his active medical practice, he managed and administrated at a skilled-care nursing facility, Lake Bluff Health Care Centre in Lake Bluff, Ill.

He was an active member of the Korean-American community and held numerous leadership positions to help improve the social quality of Korean-Americans in Chicagoland. He served as president of the Korean-American Association of Chicago and was also the chairman of the Advisory Council on Asian Affairs for the former Mayor Richard M. Daley as well as past governors of Illinois. He received Mok-Ryun Medal of Distinguished Civic Services from the president of Republic of Korea for his achievement and contributions.

One of his proudest achievements was in helping 586 Korean seniors gain full US citizenship. Many Korean seniors, who were permanent residents, were unable to become US citizens due to the language barrier and unfamiliarity of the citizenship process. Dr. Byun worked closely with the US immigration office and came up with an easier way for seniors to obtain citizenship. He was inducted to the Chicago Senior Citizen Hall of Fame and received a Luminary Senior Award from the City of Chicago in 2003.

He is survived by his wife, Chung Sook Kim, M.D., his daughters, Susanne and Margaret Byun, his sons, Richard, Peter (Sara), and Michael (Julie) Byun, and his stepchildren, Janice and John (Sophia) Roe, as well as eight grandchildren, four stepgrandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.