Dongkyu “Don” Bak passed away on May 15, 2011 at the age of 81 at the
Riddle Memorial Hospital in Media, Pennsylvania where he had lived for many
years. Don was born in 1930 outside what is now known as Pyongyang, North
Korea. He grew up under Japanese colonial control until the end of World War II
in 1945. When the Soviet Union then took control of North Korea, he and his
family fled on foot with the clothes on their backs to Seoul, South Korea in 1947.
Three years later they fled further south to Pusan when the North Korean army
invaded in 1950. At that point, Don, who had just started to attend college, was
conscripted into the South Korean army where he fought side-by-side with the
US Army 7th Division until the war’s end in 1953.
Through a fortuitous twist of fate, Don had applied to Dartmouth in 1952 and was
accepted as a member of the Class of 1957 on full scholarship. After graduating,
Don earned a masters degree in architecture from the University of
Pennsylvania.
He worked for several architectural firms in Philadelphia,
eventually in a position at George M. Ewing and Co. While there, his most
notable achievement was as chief architect for Veterans Stadium. In 1975, he
opened his own firm, Baggot & Bak, Ltd., where he served as President.
Don’s civic and community contributions were many. He was a member of the
Chester Friends (Quaker) Meeting through his marriage to his wife Betsy and its
clerk for many years. He also served for many years as a Trustee of Quakerfounded Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the oldest university in the US
established for the purpose of educating African Americans. His preference was
for no recognition or “pat-on-the-back” for these efforts.
Don is survived by Betsy, his four children (Larry, Randy – Dartmouth ’83,
Sandra and Tim), two sisters and a brother, and six grandchildren. Fellow
classmate and architect Charles Tseckares described him as a “good guy: very
smart and humble!”
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Dongkyu Bak died May 15, 2011 after a long illness. He was born February 4, 1930 outside of
what is today Pyongyang, North Korea. His parents were descendants of members of the court
of the last Korean dynasty. His maternal grandfather was a chamberlain in the court of the last
Korean king. In 1905 the Japanese annexed Korea as a colony. Don’s early life in Korea did not
resemble life as we now know it. Don’s family was, however, comparatively comfortable and able
to provide him with a stable home and education. It was, also, a life shaped by the harsh nature
of Japanese colonial rule.
Don grew up during the Japanese government’s comprehensive effort to replace all aspects of
Korean culture with Japanese culture. His native language, Korean, was forbidden in public and
he was required to speak Japanese in school and all public places. Only native Japanese
students were permitted to attend the No. 1 (better) school in his area, and all of the principals
and officials at the No. 2 school (for Koreans) were Japanese. In fact, all government officials
were Japanese. Koreans were forced to change their family names from traditional Korean
names such as Park, Kim and Lee to multi-syllabic Japanese names – his family’s name was
changed to Arai. The Japanese restrictions and impositions strengthened Don’s sense of identity
as a Korean while forcing him to work in an unfamiliar, hostile environment, traits he would call on
in later life.
When Don was 15, World War II and Japanese colonial rule ended. The Soviet Union occupied
the northern half of Korea and the US occupied the southern half. The Soviets set up local
communist parties to replace the Japanese colonial officials. Don’s family’s was forced out of
their home in 1945 and their belongings were seized by the communists. The communists
stamped “property of the people” on each of their possessions – Don’s family left with the clothes
on their backs. Don’s sense of liberty and justice arises from the way his family was treated by
the communists.
Don’s family determined that the future lay in Seoul. It was the traditional center of Korea,
located in the US–occupied south, and home to relatives who could help them get settled.
Between 1945 and 1947 Don’s mother made several separate trips, on foot, between Pyongyang
and Seoul to bring the family south. Don went south in the second trip, rejoining his father at a
cousin’s home in Seoul. Don spoke matter-of-factly of his mother’s efforts for Don and his family.
Don viewed his mother’s acts as the unconditional duty of a parent to her children.
By 1948, eighteen year old Don was settled in Seoul in US-occupied South Korea. He enrolled in
high school, and characteristically took a leading role there. When Don and his friends learned
that communist sympathizers wanted all high schools to go on strike, Don organized opposition to
the strike. Don’s high school was the only high school in Seoul not to strike. By 1950 Don had
completed high school and begun a university program. Don’s sense of initiative was strong. He
saw the great tumult of Seoul, Korea’s largest city and traditional capital, as a place of
opportunity. By age twenty he had experienced more than many do in a lifetime.
Don was 20 in 1950 when the Korean War began. The North Korean communists’ invasion of the
south immediately threatened Seoul, not far from the north-south border. The South Korean
forces were routed, and Don and his family had to flee south again, chased all the way by an
advancing North Korean army. Don carried his young nephew on his back two hundred and five
miles, on foot, to Pusan. Once there, in crowded and chaotic conditions, Don was conscripted
along with all other able-bodied young men into the Korean army. Don was forced to leave his
family in the middle of night, without his mother knowing the cause of his disappearance.
Don’s unit served with the US Army 7th Division. Don trained and fought side-by-side with
American GIs, engaging in the dramatic swings of the Korean War. The 7th Division entered the
war in southern Korea and helped push to the North Koreans back, beyond the north-south
border all the way to Korea’s Yalu River border with China. The 7th Division then had to fend off
the entry of the Chinese army into the war, retreating south in the face of an overwhelming
number of the Chinese forces. Don’s unit endured the furious back-and-forth that marked the
war’s final phases in 1953.
Don’s initiative and intelligence served him well with the 7th Division. Don’s English skills were
sufficient to enable him to interact closely with the American troops. His earnest efforts, then as
in his later life, created bonds of friendship and led to the most fortuitous twist of fate. When his
American GI buddies discovered that he had just started college before being “drafted,” one of
them remarked that he had a cousin in college—and suggested they ask the cousin to send an
application, to see if Don could go to school in the United States.
Willing to take chances, Don agreed. The college accepted Don’s application in 1952, and
requested that he interview with an alumnus army captain stationed near-by. Don impressed the
officer and he was admitted to Dartmouth College with a full scholarship.
It took a year—and the help of a friendly general—to get discharged. His GI friends scraped
together enough money to get him a berth on a cargo ship to the U.S. Bill Etzrodt, one of his
closest army buddies, and Bill’s family in northern New Jersey, aided him when he got to the US.
He found his way to New Hampshire in 1953 and the beginning of a life in America. The initiative
and courage he demonstrated in his early life served him well at Dartmouth. Don was again in a
foreign, albeit safer, environment, yet he overcame any obstacles and graduated from Dartmouth
in 1957.
He went on to the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture that same year. More
importantly, in 1958 he met Elizabeth (Betsy) Eves, who would become his wife. As Betsy
recalls, she met Don when he tried to use a non-public telephone where she worked. Don
parlayed this introduction into a lifelong, loving partnership and a family of four kids between 1960
and 1964 – Larry, Randy, Sandra and Tim. Don’s devotion to Betsy and his children followed the
example of his mother – matter-of-fact and unconditional.
After Penn, Don began his professional architecture career in Philadelphia, working with several
firms. He eventually took a position with the firm of George M. Ewing and Co. While with Ewing,
his most notable achievement was his role as chief architect for Veterans Stadium. Despite less
than flattering views of the Vet in its later years, Don remained proud that he gave his client what
it wanted: a 65,000 seat stadium in which you could play a baseball game on Saturday night and
a football game the next afternoon. In 1975, he again demonstrated the initiative and effort that
marked his life and opened his own architecture firm. His first project was a major expansion of
the Crozer Chester Hospital. Many others would follow.
His civic and community contributions in Media, Delaware County and the broader area are
numerous. He was a member of the Chester Friends (Quaker) Meeting through his marriage to
Betsy and its clerk for many years. He served on the Media Borough Planning Commission, the
Media Borough Zoning Hearing Board, Media Historic Preservation, Inc., and was president of
the Heritage Commission of Delaware County. He was Commander of the American Legion
Smith Howard Post 93 in Media. He served in the leadership of the Media Youth Center and
spearheaded the revival of the Media Soap Box Derby.
He greatly enjoyed fellowship and service with his neighbors first in the Kiwanis Club and then
recently in the Media Rotary Club as its secretary, as Chair of the District 7450 Gundaker
Foundation, and was a Paul Harris Fellow. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. He served as a Trustee of Cheyney University. He
was instrumental of the formation of the Korean Community Development Services Center in
Philadelphia.
He also served on the boards of Rose Tree Media School District, Delaware County Parks &
Recreation, D.A.P. of Delaware County, the local American Red Cross branch, Media Upper
Providence Library, Rocky Run YMCA, Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, and on the
Emlen Institute Foundation as Chairman.
Equally numerous are the many instances of personal and material support he gave to
individuals, from near and far. Don’s preference was for no recognition or “pat-on-the-back” for
these efforts. In fact, one of the few ways to make Don uncomfortable was to try to offer such
thanks.
Don was always grateful to a community that welcomed him openly and honestly in times when a
young man from Korea could not necessarily expect that reception. His own words in accepting
an award from the Chester Branch NAACP in 1996 for his works in Chester sum up his view of
the world:
“Finally, any one of you present here tonight is more deserving of the honor you have bestowed
upon me, more than I. For that I am truly grateful.”
Don is survived by: his wife, Betsy, now residing in Riddle Village in Media; his four children,
Larry Bak and his wife Jacqui of Media, Randy Bak and his wife Laura of Belmont,
Massachusetts, Sandra Baggot and her husband Bruce of Media, and Tim Bak and his wife Erin
of Media; his niece Soyun Crowding and her husband Tom of Media; his two sisters, Kumsil and
Yangsil of Seoul, Korea, his brother Jae Kyu of Garner, North Carolina; his six grandchildren; and
his numerous other nieces and nephews.
His life is a story of initiative, perseverance and courage through adversity, coupled with
generosity towards and action for others in recognition of and quiet gratitude for the good fortune,
both that he created and that came his way. As a consequence, he enjoys the respect,
admiration and affection of many, who will miss him.
― Abstracted from a news release by Cheyney University of Pennsylvania