Dr. Hsinchao Lee

Dr Lee Hsinchao was born on February 1, 1928 at Meixian District, Guangdong Province, China. He attended and graduated from the Kuomintang’s National Defense Medical Center. He said he attended NDMC for the “free education”. He met his wife of 48 years, Peng Hsiuchiao, in 1949 at NDMC where she was a student in Nursing and Public Health. Hsinchao and Hsiuchiao married on April 6th, 1958. They had two children, James in 1959 and Thomas in 1962. Hsinchao became a general surgeon and went to New York between 1962-64 to pursue further surgical training. He spent much of his time training at the Memorial Hospital, now known as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. After returning to NDMC in 1964, he quickly became the Chief of general surgery at the Tri-Service General Hospital.

In 1972, he immigrated to the U.S. with his family. Because of his age, he decided not to pursue another Surgical Residency. He had two medical practices, one as a hospital physician at Barnert Hospital in Patterson, NJ, and the other at Dr Ting Er-Yi’s clinic in Chinatown. After 9/11, Dr Lee still traveled to this Chinatown clinic by public transportation despite the travel restriction.

On August 4th, 2006, his wife, Lee Hsiuchiao, died from complications due to cancer. This brought him great sadness. He composed poetry in her honor, and devoted time to studying and translating encyclopedia. In February 2018, Dr Lee celebrated his 90th birthday with his family. Later that year, due to health issues, he moved to Chicago to be closer to his son. He passed away in Chicago on November 20th, 2019 with his son and daughter in law at the bedside.

Dr Lee is survived by his two sons, James Lee of Bangkok, Thailand and his wife Eri, and Dr Thomas Lee of Chicago and his wife Mindy. Dr Thomas Lee has two children, Jacob and Elana. Hsinchao’s grandchildren remember him by his quiet demeanor and his love for cutting fruits. He also is survived by his favorite nieces and nephew, Jane, Kathy, and Huan.

Memorial Service was held for Dr Hsinchao Lee at the St James Funeral Home, St James, NY on December 4, 2019. Welcome and Biography were given by James and Thomas, respectively. Euologies were given by Jane Hsieh, Huan Hsu, Jacob, Elana, Mrs Samuel Yeh, and Dr Shen Han-Yu. Dr Lee is buried at the Washington Memorial Park, at Mount Sinai, NY.

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