Lisa Salberg
02-20-2003, 09:32 AM
It appears this is an HCM related death:
Ryan Deon Cheung
Former Irvine resident Ryan Deon Cheung collapsed and died of a heart attack
Jan. 22 in Hong Kong while he was practicing basketball. He was 26.
His ashes were expected to arrive from Hong Kong this week and a memorial
celebration is planned for Saturday, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. at Mariners Church, 5001
Newport Coast Drive. The Rev. Richard Harris will officiate and a luncheon will
follow. Private interment will be at Pacific View Memorial Park, Newport Beach.
Mr. Cheung was born Oct. 25, 1976, in Hollywood. His family moved to Irvine
in 1979 and they lived in Turtle Rock. He attended Turtle Rock Elementary School
and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School. He graduated in 1994 from University High
School, where at 6 feet 5 inches he played center on the varsity basketball
team. For three years he was elected to the Associated Student Body Council. In
his senior year he was class president. The large blue Trojan sign painted on
the wall of the gym was a gift from his class.
He had many friends and was devoted to his parents, Maxwell and Rose Cheung.
''He was a people person and always the center of warmth and love,''
remembered his mother.
His close friend from high school, now a Uni High basketball coach, Amir
Khalilpour, spoke about Mr. Cheung Tuesday.
''A strong memory for me is we all used basketball as a tool to become close
friends with the others on the team. We became like a family and Ryan was a
strong leader of that family,'' he said.
''He was a person who didn't look at the exterior and always gave people a
chance. I have so many great memories of him. He was too young to be taken.''
Mr. Cheung received a bachelor's degree in 1998 in business and political
science from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. During his time in college he
attended a summer course at Oxford in the United Kingdom. While attending Emory
University he did an internship with CNN and worked at the Atlanta Summer
Olympics for Kodak.
After a short stint with Kurt Salmon Associates, a management consulting firm
in Atlanta, he was recruited by Lemon, a Hong Kong-based company specializing in
digital marketing and corporate communications. He was recently promoted to the
position of managing director.
His father remembered him as humorous, playful and a good student. But his
real love was basketball and he continued to play after high school, first as a
student at Emory University and then recreationally.
He was adventurous and athletic. He loved to travel and had gone to many
parts of the world both alone and with friends, including Panama, Nepal, Europe,
China and Southeast Asia.
He enjoyed mountain climbing, water skiing and diving as well as snow skiing
and wakeboarding. He also loved contemporary music and reading, said his
parents.
Mr. Cheung loved Mexican food, In-n-Out burgers and Nick's Pizzas. It was
only after he moved to Hong Kong that he began to enjoy Chinese food, said his
father.
He was close to his parents and sister, Roselyn. She works for Lemon in Hong
Kong as well and the two shared a close bond throughout their childhood,
according to their father. They lived and worked together in Hong Kong for the
past three years, and traveled throughout Asia.
In 2001, Mr. Cheung met Jennifer Chan in Hong Kong and fell in love.
''Throughout their time together they shared extraordinary love, and the joy
that they brought to one another shone in their eyes and faces every day,'' said
his father.
Mr. Cheung is survived by his parents, Maxwell and Rose Cheung, of Irvine;
his sister, Roselyn Cheung, of Hong Kong; and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chan, of
Hong Kong.
The family asked that memorial donations be made to the Minneapolis Heart
Institute Foundation, a nonprofit research and education organization. Donations
may be sent to HCM Tribute/Memorial Fund, Minneapolis Heart Institute
Foundation, 920 E. 28th St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55407.
Ryan Deon Cheung
Former Irvine resident Ryan Deon Cheung collapsed and died of a heart attack
Jan. 22 in Hong Kong while he was practicing basketball. He was 26.
His ashes were expected to arrive from Hong Kong this week and a memorial
celebration is planned for Saturday, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. at Mariners Church, 5001
Newport Coast Drive. The Rev. Richard Harris will officiate and a luncheon will
follow. Private interment will be at Pacific View Memorial Park, Newport Beach.
Mr. Cheung was born Oct. 25, 1976, in Hollywood. His family moved to Irvine
in 1979 and they lived in Turtle Rock. He attended Turtle Rock Elementary School
and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School. He graduated in 1994 from University High
School, where at 6 feet 5 inches he played center on the varsity basketball
team. For three years he was elected to the Associated Student Body Council. In
his senior year he was class president. The large blue Trojan sign painted on
the wall of the gym was a gift from his class.
He had many friends and was devoted to his parents, Maxwell and Rose Cheung.
''He was a people person and always the center of warmth and love,''
remembered his mother.
His close friend from high school, now a Uni High basketball coach, Amir
Khalilpour, spoke about Mr. Cheung Tuesday.
''A strong memory for me is we all used basketball as a tool to become close
friends with the others on the team. We became like a family and Ryan was a
strong leader of that family,'' he said.
''He was a person who didn't look at the exterior and always gave people a
chance. I have so many great memories of him. He was too young to be taken.''
Mr. Cheung received a bachelor's degree in 1998 in business and political
science from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. During his time in college he
attended a summer course at Oxford in the United Kingdom. While attending Emory
University he did an internship with CNN and worked at the Atlanta Summer
Olympics for Kodak.
After a short stint with Kurt Salmon Associates, a management consulting firm
in Atlanta, he was recruited by Lemon, a Hong Kong-based company specializing in
digital marketing and corporate communications. He was recently promoted to the
position of managing director.
His father remembered him as humorous, playful and a good student. But his
real love was basketball and he continued to play after high school, first as a
student at Emory University and then recreationally.
He was adventurous and athletic. He loved to travel and had gone to many
parts of the world both alone and with friends, including Panama, Nepal, Europe,
China and Southeast Asia.
He enjoyed mountain climbing, water skiing and diving as well as snow skiing
and wakeboarding. He also loved contemporary music and reading, said his
parents.
Mr. Cheung loved Mexican food, In-n-Out burgers and Nick's Pizzas. It was
only after he moved to Hong Kong that he began to enjoy Chinese food, said his
father.
He was close to his parents and sister, Roselyn. She works for Lemon in Hong
Kong as well and the two shared a close bond throughout their childhood,
according to their father. They lived and worked together in Hong Kong for the
past three years, and traveled throughout Asia.
In 2001, Mr. Cheung met Jennifer Chan in Hong Kong and fell in love.
''Throughout their time together they shared extraordinary love, and the joy
that they brought to one another shone in their eyes and faces every day,'' said
his father.
Mr. Cheung is survived by his parents, Maxwell and Rose Cheung, of Irvine;
his sister, Roselyn Cheung, of Hong Kong; and his girlfriend, Jennifer Chan, of
Hong Kong.
The family asked that memorial donations be made to the Minneapolis Heart
Institute Foundation, a nonprofit research and education organization. Donations
may be sent to HCM Tribute/Memorial Fund, Minneapolis Heart Institute
Foundation, 920 E. 28th St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55407.