“ It is with great sadness that I write this letter, informing the KAEA membership that Dr. Hong Youl Park recently passed away on April 7, 2022, in Laguna Woolds, California. Dr. Park served the KAEA in a variety of capacities: President in 2004, Vice President in 1987, Secretary General in 1995 and several others. On the KAEA website, let’s open a page for condolences so that his KAEA friends can express and share their fond memories of Dr. Park. The following is a life history of Dr. Park from his family.
In loving memory of Dr. Hong Youl Park
Dr. Hong Youl Park was born on March 1, 1938 in Gongju, South Korea. He survived Japanese and Chinese invasions, the Korean War, and service to the Korean Army. He received a BA in Economics from Kyung Hee University (1962) and an MA in Economics from Seoul National University (1966). In 1968, he moved to the United States and received
an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University (1970) and a Ph.D. in Economics from Utah State University (1975).
In 1975, Dr. Park accepted a position to teach at Saginaw Valley State University, where he was a Tenured Professor for 43 of his 47 years and taught over 10,000 students. Dr. Park was Department Chair four times (1990-1992, 1996-98, 2004-2006, 2008-10); Editor of the SVSU Economic and Business Review (1983-1992); and Director of the Center for Economic and Business Research (1979-1992). In 2002, Dr. Park received a US Fulbright Scholarship to Korea. He collected and published data for four articles on the Unified Theory of the Firm, Corporate Strategies and Dynamic Capabilities of the Firm. During 47 years of teaching, he published 58 articles and in 2011, at the annual Kyung Hee University Alumni Association’s North America Meeting, Dr. Park was named person of the year by his alma mater.
Dr. Park was active with the Korea-America Economic Association (KAEA) where he served as the Secretary-General, Vice President, President (2004), and Chair of the Advisory Board (2008, 2009). While serving as President of KAEA, he initiated the first joint conference with the Bank of Korea (Korean Central Bank) and organized five other joint conferences with (1) The Korean Economic Association, (2) Korea Development Institute, (3) Korea Financial Institute, (4) Korean Monetary and Financial Association, and (5) American Economic Association.
Dr. Park passed on to heaven on April 7, 2022 in Laguna Woods, California. A loving father and husband, he is survived by his wife, Woo Hee Park and four daughters, Jiyun, Helene, Anne and Sonia Park, two sons, Michael and Andrew Keyoung, as well as grandchildren Emmelene, Marko, and their father Eli Perencevich; Michael’s wife, Chloe and children, Lucienne, Nicholas, and Ethan as well as Andrew’s wife, Chin Yee and children, Sky and Kingston. In Korea, he is survived by his brother and sister and their children.
Dr. Park loved playing golf (even through November), swimming, taking long walks in nature, and spending time with his family. He served as an elder at Nanum Presbyterian Church in Saginaw, Michigan, where he enjoyed community with his life-long friends through Christ. He and his wife, Woohee, semi-retired to Laguna Woods, CA where they became members of the Bethel Korean Church. He will be remembered for his extraordinary perseverance, humility, kindness, spirit, generosity, and dedication to the study of Economics.
Please join his family and friends to commemorate and celebrate his life and light:
April 24, 2022; 12.30pm
Nanum Presbyterian Church
5560 McCarty Road
Saginaw, MI 48604