I just learned this morning about Steven's passing while reading Gallaudet's e-newsletter. I felt very sad when I read about it. I have such great, great memories of traveling with him and his wife Nancy on our Hands On Travel tours. They took 3 tours with me in the early 2010s. We traveled together in Germany, France, and Italy. He was such a wonderful fellow and one of my favorite travel partners. He knew how to make me and the rest of the group laugh. His sense of humor was pristine. He always had a positive attitude. Never once did I see him complain or get frustrated. Sometimes I felt like he was a Zen master the way he carried himself. I have a load of pictures from our trips together but this one stood out to me. I took the group to the Oktoberfest festival in Munich and it was a wonderful experience for everybody. I might be wrong but Steven might have downed a liter of Oktoberfest bier. :) I am lucky to have met somebody like him and he has a lasting influence on my life. RIP

One of my favorite professors. His stories and wisdom will always be remembered!It was a privilege to have taken a class under him. Rest easy Dr. Chough!

Back in the late sixties as member of the Metro NYC Jr NAD chapter, we hosted many different events whether it be a fundraiser to help a cause to doing projects to improve the community. One such event was a play by our chapter and I was cast in an important supporting role that required serious acting skills and commitment to do it well. I did not take the responsibility seriously enough and of course, my lackluster performance in early practice sessions got to the point where the director of the play was about to remove me from the cast.

Steve, being one of the advisors, zeroed on to me with scathing critique of my performance and I was about to give up but then he said cared enough about me (at that time I did not understand it.) but after much thought, I realized he meant it and my performance began to improve that I was kept on as a cast member. The play went on to critical acclaim because all of us did so well. To this day, I consider that one of the most important accomplishments of my life.

However, the story does not end there. Years later when we worked at Gallaudet University, I brought this up and explained to him how much this meant to me. Steve drily replied that he had to convince others that I should be in that supporting role and they weren't convinced and that my lackadaisical performance and poor motivation could not be resolved. Yet, he was persistent, telling them that I had the skills and just needed to be motivated.

Learning of this, I asked him why did he go out of his way to make sure I remained as a cast member and his response was priceless by telling me that he was trying to help me understand the value of thinking of others before self and being a member of the cast required commitment and teamwork which is necessary for--think of others before self.

Well, my friend, you have done that because, the best part of my forty year career, I've always tried to meet that ideal, all accomplishments notwithstanding.

Thank you, Dr. Chough.

My journey with SKC began with an interview with Steven K. Chough, MSW aka SKC for a summer internship at New York Psychiatric Institute during my undergraduate studies in 1970.   He impressed me as a strict, disciplinarian and sharp with his asking me tough questions.  Although he offered me a summer job, due to schedule conflicts, I was not able to make it. 

I reconnected with him a year or two years later when we bumped to each other outside at a public NYC library in a bright and sunny day. We went off well.  He was studying at Columbia University for a doctoral degree in social work and I was studying for a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at NYU in 1970.  We met a few more times via deaf community affairs. 

Later, he told me that he was offered a job at Minnesota Department of Public Welfare.  He moved to St. Paul with his wife Nancy and Abby on 1973. 

Upon completion of my two-year internship in clinical psychology in 1975 at the University of Rochester Medical Center, I flew to several cities across the country for a job interview.  Growing up in Milwaukee, I was not anxious to move to St. Paul due to cold weather when SKC told me about a job
opening at St. Paul-Ramsey’s Mental Health and Hearing Impaired Program under Dr. John Scanlan. 
I received a very warm letter from Dr. Scanlan who encouraged me to apply for the job. 

His letter helped me to make a decision to fly to Minneapolis/St. Paul for a job interview the first week of November, 1975.  Knowing Minnesota’s cold weather in November, I wore a winter coat.  Upon arrival at the airport, I was so stunned to see so warm the weather. It must be something like high 50’s or low 60’s.  He picked me up and surprised me with a visit to Charles Thompson Memorial Deaf Club on a “red carpet” to meet several deaf leaders. I felt so welcome and much appreciated.  I learned a lot about the beautiful building of this deaf club, the history and the culture.   

After the visit, he drove me to the hospital and walked with me to meet Dr. Scanlan and his program staff.   We went off well and I really liked the idea of working for him.  Following the interview, he walked with me to the Department of Psychiatry’s weekly lecture with all the staff.  I gave my speech about my dissertation findings.  

After this, SKC drove me to different neighborhood areas to give me an idea where I would like to live provided I was offered a job and accepted it.  In short,  SKC excelled in recruiting me the same way football and basketball coaches recruited high school athletes. 

Eventually, I accepted Dr. Scanlan’s job offer and moved to reside in an apartment in downtown  Minneapolis and worked at the hospital in February 1976.  A year later, Dr. Scanlan offered SKC a new job as the Administrator of the program.
We worked together so beautiful and we were heavily advocating for deaf people’s right to access to mental health services.  We made many presentations about our program to local deaf community events, state and national conferences on mental health and deafness.  

Our biggest accomplishment at this program was our involvement with NAD and Dr. Fred Schreiber, Executive Director.  We submitted our proposal to him that NAD established an ad hoc committee on mental health and deafness. The proposal was approved with some funds to support logistics, travel and lodging expenses.  Dr. Scanlan hosted the first committee meeting with prominent deaf and hearing leaders on mental health(see several group photos posted here as well as in the gallery). 

SKC & his wife Nancy and I and my wife Evie got together on many nights on the weekends.  We babysat their two kids Abby and Alex.  We witnessed the  first birthday of Alex in his fully clothed Korean robe.  

SKC was busy many nights working on his dissertation.  He often asked me to review his drafts.  
He was not happy with my critical comments on his drafts.  I encouraged him to interpret the findings based on different perspectives, not on just one perspective.  Eventually, he passed his oral exam on his dissertation and received his doctoral degree in social work in 1978.  He surprised me with a beautiful brief case as a token of his appreciation for my assistance.  

Two years later, Dr. Chough was offered a new job in Detroit as the Director of Inpatient Services for deaf patients.   Although Evie and I were so depressed to see them move to Detroit, we were so happy for him to continue his amazing journey in opening up new access to mental health services in Detroit.  

We visited them in Detroit and his whole family attended our 1980 wedding in Chicago. 

We continued to bump a few times to each other at mental health and deafness conferences.  Colleagues and I surprised him with a birthday cake for his 40th or 50th birthday in New Orleans. 

When he and his family moved to Washington, DC to assume a new position as Dean of Student Affairs at Gallaudet University, we continued to see him and his family on many social occasions whenever we were in town for meeting, conferences, and the like. 

SKC and I often had many evenings of discussions and jokes why social workers are better than psychologists and vice versa.  He also shared with me many private and painful moments of him overcoming many adversities in the Korean War and his work with Korean Intelligence Agency. 

And he surprised me by showing up at my house in Minnesota for my 50th birthday party.  

In close, I fervently embraced many precious and wonderful memories not only with him as my colleague and close friend but also Evie and me with him and his wife as well as his two kids Abby and Alex.  We witnessed Alex’s wedding with his lovely wife Marie.  

I love calling my dear friend as SKC.  SKC is an iconic name.  SKC as the abbreviation stands for 
the following meanings:

S = Smart (serall of his amazing academic achievements as eloquently listed in the website obituary);

K = Kindness to everyone

C = Commitment in advocating for deaf people and in sharing his love of teaching and mentoring. 

He was born with a divine spark and accomplished his amazing work, family love, and contributions to supporting the causes of deaf people’s right to dignity and respect in the eyes of God. 

Salute to my dear friend SKC. 

Amen.