Dr. Yiechul Jack Jung

Dr. Jung, an endocrinologist, treated thousands of patients during his career and was a clinical associate professor of medicine of the Northeastern College of Medicine. He was an authority on thyroid disease and published in endocrine journals, including a study on the treatment of Riedel’s thyroiditis.

Dr. Jung immigrated from South Korea in the 1960s for medical training, interning in Philadelphia, then completing his residency and fellowship in Pittsburgh and Youngstown.

Born in Milyang, South Korea, he was raised in Taegu during World War II under Japanese occupation. He was the second son, among five children, of Youngman Jung, a math professor, and Namah Moon.

A younger brother’s sudden death at the age of 11 spurred Dr. Jung to pursue medicine. He graduated from Seoul National University, where he earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees in 1961, and served in the Republic of Korea Army.

He married Chunghee Kim in 1965. The couple had three daughters, who were raised in Youngstown.

Dr. Jung worked as an internist through St. Elizabeth Hospital. He cared for patients, one at a time, listening to their complaints, making occasionally life-changing diagnoses, and finding ways to treat them. He kept his practice on Belmont Avenue for 35 years.

He and his wife moved to Tampa in 2006, where they settled into life in a golf course community. An athlete from a young age, he enjoyed many sports, gaining a reputation for take-no-prisoners tennis. He was also an avid reader of English literature, especially Shakespeare’s plays. He was thrilled to pay a visit to the birthplace of William Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon last year as a 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

In his younger days, he painted watercolors of Mill Creek Park and his Liberty Township neighborhood. Two of his paintings were included in the 1981 Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh.

He leaves his wife of 51 years, Chunghee Elizabeth; daughters Susan (Sue Hyun) Jung Grant of Wellesley, Mass., Jean (Soo Jin) Jung of Seattle, Wash., and Helen Jung Green of Portland, Ore. He also leaves his sons-in-law, Julien Grant and Patrick Green, and grandchildren, Harrison, Ben, and Tessa. In Korea, he leaves his brother Do Chul Jung, of Taegu, and sister Chul Ja Park, of Taegu.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. by the Korean Catholic Mission of Tampa at the Mary Help of Christians Center. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Gonzalez Funeral Home.