John Yoontai Kuark passed away peacefully on February 6, 2020 in the presence of his beloved family. John Yoontai was born in Shintanjin, near Daejon City, South Korea to Chongwoo Kuark and Moshin Chung.
He attended Kyungbok Middle and High School, and Seoul National University in South Korea. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he joined the Republic of Korea Air Force, and served in the 10th Fighter Wing as an intelligence officer in Combat Operations, working with the 5146th Advisory Group and the 5th Air Force of the United States Air Force. After the war was over, he was honorably discharged as a 7-time decorated ROK Captain. He came to the U.S. to further his education, and attended the University of Minnesota, from which he obtained his BSBA, MA (1959), and Ph.D. (1966) in Economics and Statistics.
He met his wife, Sandra Kay Steindorf, at the University of Minnesota in 1956. They married in 1957 and had three children, Eugene John, Julia Kay and Amy Susan, one granddaughter, Chelsea and one great granddaughter, Isabella.
He taught over 42 years at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, and for 5 years at the School of Management, Long Island University of New York as the Hala Professor and Director of the Executive MBA Program (1992-1997). He also taught at the Seoul National University Summer Program and the Yonsei University Summer Program (every summer from 1989-2008). In 2008, he retired from teaching and research as Professor of Economics and Statistics at D.U.
John Yoontai was an avid golfer and enjoyed playing everywhere in the world - in the U.S., Korea, Japan, China, and Switzerland when he visited his daughter, Julia. He was a sports fan - football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey - and enjoyed watching games on TV in his later years.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra, son Eugene, daughters Julia and Amy, granddaughter Chelsea, and great granddaughter Isabella in the U.S. and brother Yongtai and sister Sookhee and many nephews and nieces and their families in the U.S. and South Korea.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society www.cancer.org or Porter Hospice Foundation, 950 E Harvard Ave, Suite 230, Denver, CO 80210
https://www.rmahf.org/hospice.html
