Dr. Ki Whan Oh Chi was born on December 13, 1929 in Seoul, Korea and attended Korea National University, graduating with a Doctor of Medicine degree in March 1953. Upon graduation, she served a one year internship at the Red Cross Hospital in Seoul, followed by a two year residency in the E.N.T. department at Yeon-Sae National University Hospital in Seoul.
On April 22, 1954, she married Dr. Seong H. Chi, a military surgeon at the time. In 1955, their son John was born. In July 1957, she joined her husband in Cleveland, Ohio where she served a one year internship at Fairview Park Hospital, followed by a three year OB-GYN residency at Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland. In 1961, the couple and their young son John moved to Lansing, Michigan and Dr. Oh Chi began her career with Ingham Medical Center, now part of McLaren Greater Lansing.
Dr. Oh Chi was a creative and generous physician. Professionally she went by “Dr. Oh” and spent her working life at McLaren Greater Lansing. She was the first full time emergency room physician in the organization and helped establish the Emergency Department. In 1963, the family moved to Toronto and she spent two years at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto in a fellowship in the OB-GYN department.
She resumed her Emergency Department practice back in Lansing in 1965 and subsequently joined the Thoracic Cardio-Vascular Institute four years later. Dr. Oh Chi was instrumental in establishing the first formal Employee Health Service at McLaren Greater Lansing and she remained its chief physician until her retirement in the end of 1995.
Dr. Oh Chi is predeceased by her son John, a graduate of Holt High School and a student of Yale University who died in an automobile accident in 1975. She is survived by her husband Dr. Seong H. Chi of Holt, Michigan, two sisters, Dr. Synwhan Oh of Williamsburg, Virginia and Soon Whan Oh of Seoul, Korea, and numerous nieces and nephews. Dr. Oh Chi was a faithful attendee at Holt United Methodist Church and she and her husband resided in Holt at the time of her passing. The couple recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.
Dr. Oh Chi “made a difference”. She was a friend to all and a generous and kind physician. Her white coat could be seen throughout the hospital as she greeted physicians and lay colleagues alike. She contributed greatly to the growth and expansion of McLaren Greater Lansing and she will long be remembered as a fine physician who enhanced life for those whose lives she touched.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 15, 2019 at Holt United Methodist Church. Visitation will be held at the church directly before the service from 10 to 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Chi Heart and Surgery Center, John W. Chi Memorial Medical Library at McLaren Greater Lansing, John W. Chi Memorial Library at Holt High School, or Holt United Methodist Church.
The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home, East Chapel, East Lansing.
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