Eul Chul Ryu, father of City Council Member David Ryu, passed away yesterday (Monday, October 17) of a heart attack in Seoul, Korea. According to his obituary, the elder Ryu was born on December 26, 1945, in Chung Chun Bok Do, Yong Dong, Korea. After studying and, later, teaching civics and sociology in Korea, he and his wife, Michelle Won Chung Ryu, immigrated to Los Angeles in 1980. Here, he served as Editor in Chief of the Korean Street Journal. In addition to his wife and eldest son, David, Eul Chul Ryu is survived by a younger son Joseph, daughter Esther and two sisters.
“My father spent his career as a teacher because he was an intellectual at heart who valued understanding the world in which we live and wanted to share that with his many students,” said David Ryu in an official statement yesterday. “Growing up, he instilled that same value in me.
“He came to America, like many immigrants, in order to give his family a better life. I will always be grateful for the doors of opportunity he opened for my siblings and me. It is the greatest honor to be his son.”
The Council Member has joined his family in Korea for the funeral. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Eul Chul Ryu’s name to the Korean National American Museum (3727 W. 6th Street, Suite #519, Los Angeles, CA, 90020).
