John Chung and wife, Caroline |
John Kam Chun Chung
Born: 05/15/1914, Honolulu, Hawaii Died: 03/07/1992, Huntington Beach, CA Cause of Death: Colon Cancer John Kam Chun Chung was the ninth-born child of See Hin Chung and Kam Lan Tom. He was born in 1914 in Hawaii. I was told that Kam Chun means "golden springs." His birth certificate lists his father as See Hin Chung and his mother as Ah Sun. I'm not sure why we have a couple different versions of Kam Lan's name. The birth certificate does not list the name "John," so I wonder when he added this name. On this same document, it states that he was born at "A Young's Kalihi Ranch, Ewa of Puuhale Road and North Queen St." John went to elementary school at Kaliki-Waena Grammar School and to middle school at Kalakaua Junior High School. During his high school years, he completed two years of vocational training in "Machine Shop Practice" and graduated from McKinley High School in 1933. After high school, John attended University of Hawaii. John used to say that he almost flunked out of the University of Hawaii because he spent too much time playing music with his friends (we know that he played the ukulele and he may have played other instruments as well). He was a member of the university band during college. I'm not sure what instrument he played in that band. Apparently John got his act together before his senior year and managed to graduate. After graduating from college, John was set to be a machinist. Apparently his "hands" were not good enough for machinist work, so he chose to try another profession: medicine. John's older brother, Kam Lum (number 5 born) payed for John to go to medical school. He was admitted to the University of Chicago's medical school. According to John, while traveling from Hawaii to the mainland for medical school, he made friends with another soon to be medical student who was supposed to attend Marquette University in Wisconsin. The two new acquaintances decided, between themselves, to switch schools with each other. John ended up attending Marquette University for medical school instead of Chicago. When he arrived in Wisconsin, he found living accommodations in a boarding house located in Milwaukee. The boarding house was run by a woman named, Minnie Richter. Her daughter was Caroline Richter and soon enough, John and Caroline became an item - and eventually became husband and wife. If my grandfather hadn't met that nameless man on the boat ride over to the mainland, none of the subsequent generations of Number Nines would be here today! John and Caroline had two of his children, Joyce (9a) and Maxine (9b), right away, while still living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During WWII John was drafted into the army and served as a medic in China and Burma. When it was time for John to leave for the war, he knew that he needed to do something before he left. John had not told his mother, Kam Lan Tom, that he had married Caroline. Caroline was German and he knew that his mother would not approve. He waited to tell his mother that he was married until he deployed to China. His flight to China had a lay-over in Hawaii, so he decided that while he was there that he should go tell his mother that he was not only married, but had two children. He wanted his mother to know, in case he didn't make it back from the war. John didn't tell his mother that he was coming to see her, so when he approached the house, Kam Lan saw him through the window and thought that she was seeing a ghost. When he told her the news of his marriage and children, Kam Lan was very angry and told him that she would haunt him for the rest of his life. Eventually, John's wife earned the acceptance and affection of her mother-in-law by helping around the house and cleaning for Kam Lan when the family would come to visit. During the war, John served side-by-side with Chinese soldiers as they worked to open the Burma road and he taught Chinese soldiers how to tend to their wounded. He was awarded a medal from the Chinese government for his service and made it back to his wife and children unharmed. The family moved to Orange County, California around 1945 so that John could serve a medical residency at one of the hospitals located in Santa Ana, California. After finishing his residency, John purchased a medical practice from a retiring doctor in Costa Mesa, CA and this is where the family set up roots. John was a well known general practitioner in Costa Mesa for many years. He would make house calls and accept eggs or other items for payment when families couldn't afford to pay money for his services. Eventually, John purchased a house in Costa Mesa with his medical office attached to it. John and Caroline had Caroline (9c), their third daughter, at this time. John officially adopted his wife's son Gary (9d) around 1950, as well. John passed away in 1992, after succumbing to colon cancer. |