Howard Park

Howard H. Park, of Clarence, NY, passed away peacefully on February 27, 2016 at the age of 82, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his beloved wife Jean (of 56 years), daughter Jennifer (Wooj Byun) (Minneapolis), two sons, Victor and Bertrand (Dabbie) (Seattle), three grandchildren - Nina, Maria and Amber, older sister Eunsoon (in Korea), and many extended family members in Korea and the U.S. His other two older sisters predeceased him. He was born on December 16, 1933 in a small town in South Korea called Gochang and grew up in Seoul. After the Korean War, he served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. He attended Korea University for two years, then came to Gustavus Adolfus College in Minnesota to complete his bachelor's degree in political science. In the summer of 1959, he fell in love with Jean Leight of Pleasant Valley, Iowa, and they married in December of the same year. Among his close Korean friends, he was the first to obtain his Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1964. He started teaching political science at Bemidji State College in Minnesota in 1964 and then taught at Fredonia State College, SUNY for three years. In 1967, he studied at Harvard University for post-doctoral work for one year. He resumed teaching at Fredonia, then moved to Buffalo State College, SUNY in 1969, where he taught political science for 27 years, until retiring at the age of 62. He loved to discuss philosophy, politics and religion, and enjoyed many other interests, including horse-racing, playing poker with his friends, and eating good Korean food. He was talented at languages (including Japanese and French) and mastered English by memorizing the dictionary, eagerly learning new idioms, and asking Jean to teach him swear words when they first met. His colorful personality earned him many nicknames, including Gregory (because he looked like Gregory Peck in his younger years), Dizzy (short for his pen name "Disilleau," meaning "disillusioned" in French, which he used as a student at the U. of MN), and Dear (by his devoted wife Jeannie). He loved to wear a Yankees baseball cap even though he didn't care for the team. He was a mentor to many of his students, some of whom remained close personal friends throughout his life. He devoted his life to the pursuit of enlightenment by reading the works of many philosophers and spiritual leaders, especially J. Krishnamurti, whom he was grateful to meet in person and who profoundly changed his life. He will always be fondly remembered for his engaging personality, entertaining stories, great sense of humor, and compassionate heart. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at noon at North Presbyterian Church, 300 North Forest Road, Williamsville, NY 14221 for family and friends. Below is an open letter that Howard submitted to the Buffalo News on February 1, 2016. He had hoped that it would be published before his death. My friends: I am writing this open letter to my friends and aquaintances in WNY. I have lived in WNY since 1965 and have gotten to know countless students, colleagues and staff members while teaching at Fredonia and Buffalo State. Quite recently something happened to me; I thought I should share this with all of you. I was diagnosed with stage 3 Pancreatic cancer, an inoperable condition, about 6 weeks ago; I have been undergoing chemo treatment since then. Well, here I am, at age 82, on my death bed trying to process and understand the meaning of my impending death. After an initial period of shock and rantings of anger and denial, I have calmed down and have completely reconciled myself with whatever fate has in store for me. It is the height of irony that all my life I have always been preoccupied with the fear of death. Now the shocking reality of my own impending death is staring me right in the face. It dawned on me that death is part of life, an separable part of life. It turned out that the news of my cancer was a blessing in disguise, in fact, the greatest gift of all; that is, death is absolutely nothing to be afraid of and on the contrary is instead something to welcome with open arms in our daily life. It seems that something significant definitely happened to me. Subjectively speaking, I feel like a different person. I am subject to frequent involuntary crying bouts followed by a profound sense of silence. I shed no tears of self-pity; I shed instead tears of personal atonement and gratitude. I sing "Amazing Grace" often, one of the most beautiful hymns ever written in history. Yes, I came upon love, the greatest miracle of all in this world. More importantly, love came upon me in the same way Amazing Grace saved John Newton. The most signficant event of my life was to come upon the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, one of the greatest spiritual teachers of our time. I had the honor of having a one hour private meeting with him in Malibu, CA in 1970. What a beautiful, lovely human being! He was a perfect embodiment of love and humility, innocence and freedom. After all is said and done, we all die. Beggars die; kings die. As we ponder how to confront our own mortality, what is needed here is not any cold intellectual analysis of death, but rather an open welcoming embrace of the enomous event of our own death with a sense of wonder and mystery. So, here I am speaking from my death bed, bidding you all adieu. It has been a wonderful and magnificent ride on this planet. Have a nice journey on this earth with love in your heart. Also, I ask for your forgiveness if I have done anything mean or hurtful to you. Howard Park Emeritus Associate Professor of Political Science Buffalo State College A Memorial Service for Family and Friends to attend in Memory of Howard 12:00 pm Saturday, April 2, 2016 North Presbyterian Church 300 North Forest Rd. Williamsville, New York, United States Saturday, April 2, 2016 at noon