Obituary of Dr. Samuel D.J. Yeh

February 15, 2022

Samuel D. J. Yeh, 95, died on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, at his home. Born in Kunming, Yunnan, China to a devout Christian family, he was the eldest of fourteen children. His father, Yeh Chong Ji, was the secretary of the YMCA and principal of the YMCA schools in Kunming. His mother, Rui Wan Zhen was a kindergarten teacher.

After graduating from the National Defense Medical Center in Shanghai, China in 1948, he became a Chief Resident in Taipei, Taiwan. Seeking greater educational opportunities, he applied to study in the United States, eventually earning a doctorate in biochemistry from the School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University in 1960.

Following a ten year courtship, he married Marion Huang in 1959 in Baltimore. They moved to New York in 1963 where he began his longterm career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Until his retirement in 2007, he was a physician in Nuclear Medicine, Endocrinology and Clinical Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as well as an Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

He was also one of the three cofounding physicians at the Chinatown Health Clinic where he served as a volunteer physician for thirty eight years and later, on its board and foundation. A strong believer in community, he served as President of the Chinese American Medical Society, the Chinese American Society of Nuclear Medicine, the National Defense Medical Center Alumni Association and as Secretary of the US China Medical Exchange Committee, China Institute. For almost sixty years, he was a devoted parishioner at the Church of the Epiphany where he served in the Vestry.

He was the recipient of numerous lifetime achievement awards in addition to the Servant Healing Award from the New York Episcopal Diocese (2000); the Berson and Yalow Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine, New York chapter (2002); and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the John Hopkins University Alumni Association (2016).

A life long learner, even in retirement, he continued to take notes on the latest research in nuclear medicine and cancer research and was a daily reader of the Bible and morning devotions, the New York Times and various Chinese daily newspapers and periodicals. A resident of Morningside Gardens, Building 5 for seventeen years, he was an enthusiastic student in Spanish class (hoping to add to Chinese, English, German, French and Russian language acquisition) and a member of the Men's Club. Of paramount importance to him were the college educations of his three grandchildren.

He is survived by his beloved wife of sixty two years, Marion Huang Yeh, his daughters Vivan Wen-Han Yeh of Doylestown, PA and Phoebe Wen-Chan Yeh of New York City; son-in-laws, Brendan Greer of Doylestown, PA and Richard Manzi of New York City; three grandchildren, Sam Yeh Manzi, Aidan Li Ping Greer and Nora Li Dan Greer.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 23, 2022 (his birthday) at 2 PM at the Church of the Epiphany, 1393 York Ave at East 74th Street, New York City.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Chinatown Health Clinic Foundation, New York City; the Church of the Epiphany, New York City or the organization of your choice.

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