Wonsuck
Kim, D.O.
June 6, 1961 - January 25, 2021
Wonsuck Kim, D.O., age 59, of Florence, AL, passed away peacefully on January 25, 2021 surrounded by his loving family. A celebration of his life will be held on Friday, January 29, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. at Woodmont Baptist Church, with Dr. Tom Phillips officiating.
Dr. Kim is survived by his loving wife of 19 years, Soo Mee Kim; their daughter, Ji Soo Kim; father, Young Boo Kim; mother, Joung Ja Cha; and sisters, Ryomin Kim and children, Lauren Kim and Chad Kim, and Ryowon Kim and husband, Peter Scilipote. Also surviving are his father-in-law, Il Ho Kim; mother-in-law, Kyung Hwa Kim; brother-in-law, Jung Hwan Kim and his wife Youngjin Kim; and their children, Jina Kim and Jioh Kim.
Dr. Kim was born in Seoul, Korea, raised in Pennsylvania and received a B.A. in Chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. He received his medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1987, completed his Internship in 1988 and Residency in Ophthalmology in 1991 at Ohio University. He completed a Cornea Fellowship at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He began his practice in Florence as a Cornea Specialist in 1992.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, www.pancan.org
Celebration of Life
January 29, 2021
2:00 pm
Woodmont Baptist Church, Darby Drive, Florence, AL
Celebration of Life
Woodmont Baptist Church, Darby Drive, Florence, AL, USA
January 29, 2021 2:00 pm
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99 Comments on “Wonsuck Kim, D.O.”
In addition to appreciating his medical assistance my wife and I enjoyed his good humor.
My deepest sympathies. I first met Won when he was associated with Dr. Taft and was my client some 30 years or so ago. I then became his client. A great loss for us all. I can’t add any more praise to what’s already been posted. Heaven has added a great physician.
Sincere condolences to the family Dr Kim loved dearly. During my exam visits he always shared his enjoyable moments with them. He was an exceptional doctor and fine gentleman.
May God give the family strength and reminders of the good times.
Won and his family are neighbors of ours, and my husband and I always looked forward to seeing him out walking Max. We relished in the chance to hang out with this engaging, funny guy who was so filled with warmth. It made our day.
Heartfelt condolences to your family. Won was indeed an amazing human being.
Won was an amazing person and physician. He was an inspiration to all of us (ophthalmologists and beyond). We all wish we had more time to share with him. My heartfelt condolences to the family.
Wow,Dr.Kim was my eye doctor ,he was such a nice man.He was so proud of his daughter,I would always ask about her.The ladt time I talked to him he said he was taking his daughter and wife to Korea cause his daughter had never been and he wanted to show her how her how beautiful it was.My sincere prayers of Sympathy for his family.He was a great man
It was with great sorrow that I learned of the passing of Dr. Kim. My mother was his patient, and he always treated her with kindness, cheerfulness and respect. What a wonderful doctor and human being. My heartfelt condolences to his family.
After reviewing all the comments I have nothing else to say but “We” agree! Won was in my class at PCOM and my husband an upper year. We will always remember his positive outlook, great sense of humor and his ability to connect with others. No surprise he was a good doc. His wife is
a talented woman, and he was very proud of her beautiful family Christmas cards.
Most of all he loved his daughter too, and was excited for her acceptance to PENN
( University of Pennsylvania). He will be missed.!!!! Fran and Jack Kelly
Dear Mrs Kim and Family
I am so saddened at the loss of your husband, my friend. I worked for Dr Scott Dorin and looked forward to hearing his voice whenever he called the office. He was also my eye Dr. The very best I might add!! I love you Dr Kim and will miss you!
I am saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Kim. He was a wonderful, caring doctor with a good sense of humor. He did two eye surgeries on my mother and she did fantastic! He treated her with compassion and made her feel comfortable. He was her favorite doctor. I also was treated by Dr. Kim for a scratched cornea. He treated us both like family. I remember taking Mother to see him after his daughter was born. (Mother had missed a few years of appointments due to health issues.) He immediately wanted to show us pictures of what had happened in his life since the last visit. He showed us a picture of his beautiful wife and daughter. He said that they referred to his young daughter as “Beauty & the Beast”. The Shoals has lost an amazing doctor and friend. He will be deeply missed. My heartfelt sympathy goes to his family and extended family.
Dear Ji Soo and family,
Our hearts go out to all of you. May God give you comfort and peace during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.
Soo Mee and family – My thoughts are with you as your journey through the loss of your loving husband and father. I met Wonsuck at Ben Franklin Elementary School and our friendship continued as classmates at Indiana Area High School in Pennsylvania. We had the largest class ever to graduate from the school and our class, the IAHS Class of 1979, were very blessed to have Won as our classmate and friend. In school, Wonsuck was always friendly, smiling and happy! He was involved in so many different things and was so kind to everyone. Those who had him as their doctor must have been so very blessed! His classmates all got to see him at our last reunion a couple years ago. The pictures are being posted on our FB page and we are all remembering and missing our fun, kind, loving classmate! It was my honor to know Won and to graduate with him among all our other classmates! Soo Mee, You were blessed with him in your life and I send my prayers and heartfelt wishes for peace in your hearts knowing Won is with our Father and that we will all see him again one day. God be with you all.
So suck will be missed he was a great person, I went to school with him since grade school. I am so sorry for you loss Soo Mee and Family you are all in my thoughts and prayers. He had so many friends and as I read all the comments will be missed by all.
Won was a wonderful physician and an amazing person. I knew Won for 20 years on a personal and professional level. He is one of my favorite people of all time! Such a wonderful sense of humor and quick wit. Always happy with a great attitude to brighten the day.
I will miss him coming into my operating room and telling me corny jokes. Or telling me about how proud he is of his daughter’s latest acheivements. Or complaining about some latest political issue . Or talking about baseball. And always asking first about my kids and family. He liked to call me up to talk about interesting patients. Always wanting to do the best for them.
Won was a great ambassador to the medical profession. Volunteering free medical care to the less fortunate, teaching medical students, serving on the state board, and working at the federal level in support of ophthalmology.
Farewell to my friend and colleague. I love you and will miss you.
Like all IAHS classmates I feel honored to have known Wonsuck since elementary school. He was a special person inside and out and always had a smile for everyone. My sincere condolences to the family. Cherish all the great memories.
Dr Kim was the best. I needed special attention to my eyes. I received that and gained a special friend. Only Dr. Kim could see me through cataract surgeries and four cornea transplants. He was so eager to give me good eyesight that he came early from a vacation to perform a replacement cornea. He loved his daughter. As he often mentioned her progress in choosing a university and he often mentioned how blessed he was to have a wonderful wife. I admired him as he professed his love for the Lord. I always left his office knowing that I would have a good day as we joked and laughed through the whole appointment. May the Lord be with you and may you Rest In Peace when not entertaining in Heaven.
I knew Dr. Kim as an eye doctor and also in my profession. I had great respect for him on both levels. He had a great sense of humor. He will be missed, praying for the family, associates and all who knew and loved him.
Even now as I write this, I feel a bit numb as I am extremely saddened… Wonsuck was the uncle I always looked forward to seeing over weekends when I was young. He was always calm, collected and sincere, and only had the nicest things to say. I still remember vividly him commenting on my Sunday church fashion (which made my day) and all the dad jokes which I now totally get.
I knew Wonsuck uncle was a great, great and great man so I always looked up to him as a kid; after reading some comments here it seems like I wasn’t wrong At All. I can clearly see he impacted so many lives and his work and legacy is very inspirational to me and tremendously respectful.
To Jisoo, I read somewhere you enjoy travelling new places? Well if you ever decide to visit Australia, you know my doors are wide open for you.
Oh I miss you so much…Wonsuck uncle I truly hope to see you again when the time comes. Until then, rest in peace up in the Heaven.
I was a patient of Dr. Kim What a kind, compassionate, calm and efficent specialist he was!!! He will be greatly missed and always remembered!!Deepest Sympathy!!
The Shoals has lost a treasure. Dr Kim was the best example of a caring professional. He has treated our family for years and was always kind and considerate. He was a great mentor to our daughter, Heather, while she was in medical school. Always proud to speak of his wife and daughter. Our deepest sympathy is with them.
Our hearts are broken at hearing of Won’s passing. Soo Mee and Ji Soo, we are fervently praying for you both. May God’s Presence be near you and may He meet your every need.❤️
I was so shocked to hear of Dr. Kim’s passing. He has been my family’s doctor for 15 years, and did surgery on my right eye a few years ago. He was always so kind and caring – one of the absolute best doctors of any specialty I’ve ever had. Can’t imagine trusting my corneas to anyone else. I feel like I watched his daughter grow up over the years as he always had a recent photo of her in his office.
I saw a specialist in Birmingham once who told me there was nothing any ophthalmologist in the state could do for me that Dr. Kim couldn’t do just as well or better. He was that good, and the Shoals was so very fortunate to have him.
Much love, sympathy, and prayers to Dr. Kim’s wife and daughter, and his entire extended family. I am so deeply sorry for your loss.
So saddened by his loss and so glad to read all of these memories. His versatility and outgoing nature stood out in high school. He loved music (as a singer) and sports (especially as a fleet-footed, smooth-fielding 2nd baseman) in equal measure, and had an astonishing ability to connect with almost anyone and start up and develop a conversation that went well beyond the usual courtesies.
We reconnected at the 40th HS reunion, and he made a point of revisiting my parents, and others he knew in town, after the event. What became clear was that those qualities still remained, and then some: deepened by his love of family.
When we talked over the past year, he became most animated and able to forget about his struggles when he talked about his wife and daughter. My heart goes out to them, and to his sisters and mother and father whom I knew growing up. Thanks to them I developed a life-long love of Be Bim Bop and Kim Chee, among other things. Forever grateful that I knew him.
수미야
포항 수열이 삼촌이다
엄마에게 소식 들었다
몸이 안 좋다는 이야기는 들었지만
어떻케 그런 소식이 전해지나
대단히 슬프구나
완쾌되기를 바라고 있었는데.
안타깝구나
수미야
사람생명이 영원하다면 얼마나 좋으냐
하나님 곁으로 가신가잖아
부디 힘내어 지수와 열심히 잘 살기 바란다
그것도 가신분이 원할거야
장례식에 참석도 못하고
더욱 슬프구나
추후에 한번 볼수있길 바란다
포항에서 애도하면서 이글을 쓴다
포항삼촌
사랑하는 나의 조카 「수미」에게
작업실에서 집에 들어온 나는 저녁식사를 준비하고 식탁에 앉았다.
슬픔에 잠겨 있을 너를 생각하며 기도를 한 후 나는 밥을 먹었다.
그래, 나는 밥을 먹었다. 네가 비통함으로 장례준비를 하는 동안 나는 누군가와 만나 얘기하며, 웃으며, 또, 어디를 가며, 무엇을 준비하며, 생각하며…
그렇게 나는 살아있는자의 일상에 있었다.
문득문득 너를 생각하며 내가 살아 있음이 부끄럽게 느껴졌다.
네가 그렇게 큰 슬픔에 처해 있지만 너에게 내가 할 수 있는것이 아무것도 없기 때문이었다. 단지, 내가 할수 있는건 깊은 숨을 내어 쉬는것뿐…
회자정리ㅡ무릇 살아있는 모든것은 반드시 떠난다는것. 부모와 자식으로 만났다가 헤어지고, 형제자매가 만났다가 헤어지고, 부부가 서로 만났다가 헤어지고, 우리가 또, 이 세월과 만났다가 헤어지고.
식사후 난로 앞에 앉아 있는데, 늦게 집으로 들어온 네 숙모로부터 휴대폰에 담긴 「김」서방의 사진들을 보았다. 살아있던 날들의 사진들…
그리고 맨 마지막의 사진. 사람들이 그 사진을 보면, 병으로 마른 모습에 측은하고 애처로운듯 보이겠지만 나는 그 사진의 모습을 보는 순간 「김」서방이 너무 평안함으로 내게 말을 걸어오는것만 같았다.
그 모습은 세상의 모든 욕심을 다 걷어낸 참 평안함의 얼굴이었다. 나는 「김」서방의 그 평안의 모습을 보며 내 마음이 평안해졌다. 그리고 그는 나에게, 너에게, 우리 모두에게 평안을 주고 떠났다.
나의 참 좋은 친구, 내 조카사위 김. 원. 석.
그는 그렇게 내마음속에 평안함으로 남아있다…
2021. 1. 30.
I am sad to hear about Dr. Kim passing, He was a wonderful Dr. and a wonderful man. I will be praying for his family that he was so proud of, his face would always light up when asked about his wife and daughter. I will miss him.
With our deepest condolences from the ECP AP Team.
Dr. Kim was our doctor for many many years. He was a funny, caring, thoughtful man and will be sorely missed by all of us. We know he is safely in the arms of his Savior and we look forward to seeing him soon. We love you, Dr. Kim.
Our hearts and prayers go with his family.
The Hirst & Nunley Family
Every year around the second week of April, the students of PCOM Georgia get to meet Dr. Kim as he shares with them his experience. Every year, I have to make sure I reach out to Dr. KIm to make sure the date is marked on his calendar. 2020 was different. Dr. Kim reached out and apologized for having to cancel his series of lectures due to his health concern. During his illness, his concern was the students. In class, he was a patient, eloquent, funny, and a first-class teacher and mentor. His students loved him. I’m saddened by his passing. May his memory be eternal.
Sorry to hear of Dr. Kim’s sickness & his passing. He was a great eye dr. We loved coming to see him. Enjoyed looking at his pictures . He performed 2 cataracts surgery’s on my mom. He was always jolly to be around. He will be missed alot. We will be thinking & praying for the family. Darlyne Hargett & Veronica Welborn.
I am so sorry ,for the passing of Dr. Kim. He was my Mother & Daddy’s doctor. My Mother loved her visits with him. He was so kind & funny. Always made you feel special. May you Rest In Peace . With sincere Thanks.
I met Won in 1992 when I had moved to Florence for work just starting out in my career. He had just moved there as well. I had recently lost my father and Won was a several years older and became a close friend, mentor in many ways, and I looked up to him and admired how he was managing his new life and relationships in Florence. Such a gift was his friendship. He was such a kind and warm person. I admired him for his decency and commitment to his patients. I will miss our meaningful conversations. We always got right into discussing what’s important in life, how we were navigating life, and our calls always ended with “I love you”. I will carry his spirit and what I learned from him always.
Recently moved back to Florence and found out about Dr. Kim’s passing. We were patients of his for many years and he was one of the best of the best. He was kind, funny, and just a beautiful soul. He will be truly missed and all who knew him are better people because of knowing him. Our prayers go out to his wife and family.
MY HEART IS HEAVY FOR ALL OF DR.KIMS FAMILY AND LOVED ONES. He has been a awesome Eye Dr. For me and other members of my family for many years. He had referred me to Vanderbilt and continued to co work with my Specialist in Nashville until he no longer was able to work. I will forever be grateful for such great care and friendship. He will TRUELY be missed. May he RIP
My prayers are with you Mrs. Kim family and loved ones. 🙏
Dr Kim was a person we have known since he was a child in Indiana. He was always a person who was thoughtful and kind to others. Dr Kim was an outstanding student and a good friend to all his fellow students. He worked hard at school and excelled in all his efforts.
We were privileged to have him as a student and to know him as a person. May God bless his soul and consolidate all those who loved him.
The Clark Family.
Wonsuck was a great colleague and friend (I met him as a medical student in 1988 in Dayton, Ohio). I am now a better ophthalmologist because of his love for mankind, patients, and ophthalmology. I had the privilege to train with him for one month, and had a great impact on me personally and professionally. So much above has been said and ALL completely true. We lost a great one on Earth, but the Heavens sure have received one of the best, ever. My deepest sympathies and condolences go out to his family. May his Memory be for a Blessing…
Dr. Kim was an excellent physician and he was a friend. I surely will miss him, and wish peace and comfort to his family, and to his colleagues and friends at Florence Ophthalmology.
I only recently learned of Dr Kim’s passing. I met him two years ago when he operated on my cataract. We had just moved into the area and I found him to be an exceptional doctor and person. I offer my condolences to his family and friends. I’m sure he will be missed by you and all that loved him.
I am heart broken. I just now found out about Wonsuck. Our families grew up together. There were 4 children in each of our families. My doubles tennis partner was his sister, Ryowon. I’m desperately trying to find Ryowon or Ryomin to talk to. I have a number for Mrs Kim, his mother. I will try that number this weekend. It’s just my 2 sisters and me left. We want to extend our condolences. We love you Kim family and wish we could have gotten to know Wonsuck’s wife and family.