Sang Hae Park

Good evening. My name is Aric Park and I would like to thank you for coming today to pay respects to Sanghae Park. My father was born in 1934 in a small village Ulsan near Pusan during the Japanese occupation of Korea. His family had been farming the hills for generations but times were tough due to the hardships of war. They thought there was something special about this boy from the country. Special enough that his sisters would work in the fields so that he could go to school. He studied by candlelight well into the night and eventually moved to Seoul with his eldest sister to go to middle and high school. From there he excelled and went to Seoul National University where he graduated with a degree in medicine at the top of his class. He had no money so he had to support himself by tutoring. At university in his first year he was so popular that he was president of his class and still maintained the top of his class. When I was younger, one of my cousin’s family was having money issues and couldn’t pay for him to go to his high school. Even though we were distant relatives, my father took it upon himself to make sure that his education was paid for and he eventually continued on to graduate from Harvard dental school. He did not forget the gravity of the sacrifices that his family had made for him. This was how he lived his life. While he may have been an aggressive businessman outside of work, when it came to family, he would always go the extra mile. to help when a cousin needed extra help.

He came to the United States alone but quickly surrounded himself with new friends and a new family. Today, his family has grown and he is survived by a sister, wife, two daughters, a son, and four grandchildren. In the US completed his residency in psychiatry and set up practice in New Mexico. In 1999, he met and eventually married Youngsook Park who took care of him in his retirement and golden years. He had struggles in life like every other person but he was there for his family until his health could not allow him to travel.

Growing up on a farm poor, money became a common measuring stick for success. But in his interpersonal relationships it was anything but. I recall countless people who would come over to our house growing up with chronic pain, depression, injuries and addictions. So often I would open up the door after coming home from school only to find a stranger sitting on the couch covered with needles. He was the fifth person in New Mexico to receive a certification in acupuncture but he studied Korean acupuncture while in Medical school. Their treatments were always free and for this he was universally respected and well liked in the Korean community. This was his legacy that he left for me. Today, we often measure the success of a person by how much they make or how much power they yield, but more important is the ripple you leave on those you love around you.

Arrangements under the direction of Pierce Brothers Turner & Stevens Mortuary, San Gabriel, CA.