Channing Sik Jun M.D., 88, passed away peacefully and surrounded by love, February 18, 2016, in Eastman, Georgia, following a protracted illness.
A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held at The First United Methodist Church in Eastman at 1:30 pm on Saturday, February 27, 2016.
Born April 25, 1927, in Kanggye, North Korea, he was the son of Young Jong Kim and Young Sik Jun.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by five brothers and four sisters. Dr. Jun is survived by his daughter, Joy Jun Rousso of Charlotte, North Carolina, her husband, Paul Albert Rousso, and his grandsons, Maxwell Jun Rousso and Alexander Paul Rousso, as well as his loving companion of twenty years, Chang Hee Imm of Macon, Georgia.
Dr. Jun attended Severance University in Seoul, Korea where he received his bachelors degree and his doctorate of medicine. His lengthy medical education was shortened near its end, when he volunteered to serve in the Army of the Republic of South Korea. He served as a field surgeon for seven years before he was sent to the United States to become board–certified. As one of two passengers on a freighter from Korea to San Francisco, he arrived in the United States, Christmas 1956. He served his internship at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, then completed his residency at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He served his chief surgical residency at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Following his residency, he was granted a fellowship in cancer surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. He took up residence in Eastman, Georgia in 1966, where he provided the only surgical services to a wide area of Middle Georgia. He served as Chief of Surgery at Dodge County Hospital, which he was instrumental in establishing, recruiting doctors of all specialties into a medical center for surrounding counties. It was often said that in his many years as a surgeon, he operated at least once (and sometimes again and again), on every person in that corner of the world. In 1973, Dr. Jun was able to implement some of his earliest training and became the first doctor granted a license to perform Acupuncture in the State of Georgia, a specialty which drew patients from throughout the Southeast to be successfully treated by his unique expertise. Dr. Jun helped shape and build the medical community in his region from a small town practice into a viable and dynamic medical hub serving a wide swath of central Georgia. He was skilled in many areas of medicine, with frontline experience in the war, unique cases he encountered and treated, his extensive training as a general surgeon, vascular surgeon, and his practices of acupuncture, orthopedics, pathology and plastic surgery. He served many years as medical examiner for the State of Georgia in the Dodge County area. His love for his patients was frequently recognized during his nearly 60 years of service, 43 of those to the people of Dodge County. He was a member of the Southeast Surgical Association, The American Acupuncture Society, Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, the Mustang Owners' Club, to name a few, as well as becoming an authority in many medical, historical, artistic and cultural arts. His autobiography, A Tiger's Hide, reads like an adventure novel, and he will be well-remembered for his prescient and unique wisdom printed weekly in his column in the Times Journal Spotlight which was composed into a book called Footnotes.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The First United Methodist Church of Eastman, Georgia or the National Kidney Foundation.
Hardy-Towns Funeral Home of Eastman is in charge of arrangements. www.hardy-towns.com