Dr. Wen-Shiung Chow

Dr. Wen-Shiung Chow, 72, passed away on Friday, November 15, 2024 at his residence in Mankato, Minnesota, with his wife Suyun at his side.

Wen-Shiung was born in 1952, growing up in Taipei, Taiwan. After graduating from the National Taiwan University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, he moved to Columbus, Ohio in 1976 to pursue a Biochemistry PhD at The Ohio State University. While at OSU, he met and married his wife, Suyun, together raising three children while completing his PhD, postdoctoral research, and then subsequently his MD degree. Wen-Shiung went on to complete his internal medicine residency at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus before finishing with a rheumatology fellowship at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.

Once he completed his medical training in 1994, Wen-Shiung returned to Columbus, where he happily cared for patients as a rheumatologist at the Columbus Arthritis Center, Riverside Methodist Hospital, and Mount Carmel Hospital for many years. He was a kind, compassionate, and dedicated physician and was honored that patients trusted him with their care. Even after 20+ years in practice, he would still greet each patient with the same smile and amount of enthusiasm as if he were in his first year of practice. He reluctantly retired in 2018 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, despite having never smoked before. 

Outside of caring for patients, Wen-Shiung enjoyed traveling with his family to see America's beautiful national parks. In addition, he marveled at the majestic scenery in Alaska, Antarctica, Iceland, New Zealand, and Norway. Visiting the Washington, DC cherry blossoms was his favorite in the spring, often piling the family in the car to drive overnight from Columbus to DC over the weekend. At home, Wen-Shiung loved gardening, spending countless hours tending to flowers and vegetables in the backyard. He cherished his daily walks with his wife, no matter if it was hot or cold outside, and playing with his grandchildren. 

Wen-Shiung is survived by his loving wife of almost 47 years, Suyun; his children, Kevin (Francisca), Jeffrey, and Andrew (Angel); his grandchildren, David, Nicholas, and Maven; his siblings Ling (Chun-Heng), Wen-Ben (Chung-Mei), and Linchih (Chang-Hsien).

Preceding him in death were his parents, Ho-Lan and Pi-Yi; and sister, Ling-Shue.

A private memorial service is being arranged by Northview - North Mankato Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to be given to the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association.