Baik Sung of Pleasant Valley, NY, passed away from complications of COVID-19 on 20 January 2021 at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. He was 77 years old.
Ben, as he liked to be called, was born in 1943 in Seoul, South Korea. Before coming to the United States in pursuit of the American dream, he graduated from Seoul National University and married his wife. They arrived in New York City in 1974 to start anew. After earning a master's degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York, he got a job with IBM and moved the family to Vestal, NY. A transfer to IBM's Kingston office brought him to the mid-Hudson Valley, where he lived for the last 32 years.

His Christian faith was paramount, and he prized learning. After early retirement, Ben obtained degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Alliance Theological Seminary. Prior to his death, he had been working towards a doctorate from Evangelical Seminary while also serving with Hudson River Presbytery. He loved to sing and sang in church choirs throughout his lifetime. He marveled at nature, tended his vegetable garden, and walked daily with his wife.

Ben is survived by his devoted wife, their three children (and their spouses), and five grandchildren as well as his siblings and their families in the U.S. and South Korea. He will be missed.
His body was interred at Pleasant Valley Cemetery. The family thanks the staff at VBMC, especially those in the ICU, for their care and compassion. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, 195 Hudson St., Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY 12520 ( donatenow.networkforgood.org/foodbankofthehudsonvalley ). Arrangements have been entrusted to Allen Funeral Home, Pleasant Valley.

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