Chung, Roy | Special Collections and University Archives

UNI Position

Geography Faculty

Retired UNI professor dies of stomach cancer By Terry Hudson, Courier Staff Writer

For forty-two years Roy Chung taught geography classes at the University of Northern Iowa. Friday, just two years after his retirement, Chung succumbed to stomach cancer at Allen Hospital at the age of 73. Beginning at Iowa State Teachers College in 1958, Chung retired after the spring semester in 2000. "One of the things he was always proud of was teaching in six different decades," said Phil Suckling, head of UNI's Geography Department. "There's not too many people who can say that."

Chung is survived by his wife of forty-two years, Beatrice, five children, and eleven grandchildren. Roy and Beatrice Chung shared a passion for ballroom dancing. "My parents loved the UNI community and the Cedar Falls community and really made Cedar Falls their home," said daughter Kerisa Baedke, a West Des Moines school teacher who lives in Clive. "Back in the early days, the professors used to all get together. The Chinese community at the university was an important group to my mother and father when we were children. They really made some connections and built a community here." Chung's youngest son, James, is a sophomore at UNI in the geography department. "One of Dad's goals was to live long enough to see James graduate from UNI in geography," Baedke said.

Geography Professor Murray Austin worked in the department with Chung since Austin's arrival at UNI in 1973. "He was a gentle man; an avid reader who loved ideas," Austin said of Chung. "He was very generous in many ways." Austin said Chung was among the first wave of geographers interested in using computers in geography and was usually the first to try new software. Soon after he retired, Chung was diagnosed with stomach cancer. "It was one of those sad things," Suckling said. "He retired, then got ill rather quickly."

Professor Emeritus Roy Chung, 73, of Cedar Falls, died Friday, September 27, 2002, at Allen Hospital, Waterloo, of stomach cancer. He was born April 6, 1929, in Jamaica, son of James and Ivy Acquie Chong. He married Beatrice Cruz October 8, 1959, in Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Chung was a lieutenant in the British Cadet Corps in Jamaica and received his bachelor of science and master's degrees in geography from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he was also a graduate assistant. He was a professor in the geography department at the University of Northern Iowa for forty-two years, was a professor in the geography and social sciences departments at the University of Guam for three years, and was a professor at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, for several summers.

Survived by: his wife; three sons, David (Janice) of Cedar Rapids, Brian (Rebekah) of Clive, and James of Cedar Falls; two daughters, Kerisa (Bruce) Baedke of Clive and Deanne Chung (Bradley Olson) of Chicago; and eleven grandchildren. Preceded in death by: a daughter, Ivilyn Dee Chung; and a brother, Leslie James.

Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Dahl-Van Hove Schoof Funeral Home, where there will be a 7 p.m rosary and memorial service. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery at a later date. Memorials: may be directed to the Cancer Treatment Center, 200 E. Ridgeway Avenue, Waterloo 50702.