Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Dear Ken and Inky,
I am very saddened to hear about the passing of your father.
As you know I met your dad in our breakfast sessions over the past few years and really enjoyed listening to him talk about his life in Korea and in Tennessee. Although your dad was Korean there were many phases of his life when his life mixed and overlapped with Japanese culture.
I recall how impressed I felt when your dad proudly told me he was a ‘Kendo’ master in the l930s , and I still have a piece of paper he wrote in exquisite Japanese kanji “藤原鎌足“(Fujiwara Kamatari), the name of famous aristocratic governor in late 600s near Nara/Kyoto at the incipient stage when Japan was being founded as a nation; I believe your dad was trying to tell me that there is a historical thesis that Fujiwara Kamatari originally came from Korea. I was so impressed with his knowledge of Japanese language, history and culture that I always kept that piece of paper in my wallet.
Even at his senior age I could tell your dad was well-endowed physically and mentally when he was young, to be a Kendo master as well as a mathematics professor. His eyes were very clear and sharp. So, I am very shocked to hear he has succumbed to Covid-19.
They say in a happy marriage when wife dies first the surviving husband is overtaken by the sorrow of her passing about three years later.
Now three years after the passing of his beloved wife, your mom, they are reunited in heaven again I am sure.
Please keep me posted about 2066 Swong Family Reunion in Tennessee.
With deepest condolences, respect and sympathy to your family.
Yuji and Yumi Sugimoto
