Dear Rosemarie, Susanne, Tina, Marianne and Family,
Heather and I were surprised, and very saddened to learn of Minsoo's passing, here in Calgary.
I (Rich) first met Minsoo in 1996 at the AGOCO Guest House in Benghazi, Libya, when we were working for the Libyan oil corporation, AGOCO. We were both there on a Single Status Rotation, but his AGOCO Co. Rotation; 11 month there, followed by 1 month of leave (11 & 1) at home, where his family remained, was much harder than my own, a Teknica Co. Rotation (2 & 1). It is a tribute to his great strength of character (and love for his family), that he endured this (and his family thrived) for more than a decade!
I have vivid memories of my time with Minsoo and shared many pleasant, often hilarious, meals with him in the Guest House dining room. He provided quiet, dependable, good company backed by a strong sense of humor and a 'dry wit'. But we also 'adventured' elsewhere with some interesting experiences, for example: Once walking through downtown Benghazi to the souk (market), the two of us ran into a crowd of wiry Asian men lounging outside a small fundouk (hotel), who gave the us 'a hostile once over' as we passed through their midst. As we walked away I asked if he knew who they were. Minsoo said; 'oh yes, they were North Korean contract workers'. Later I learned that he had been seriously injured once, when working out in a remote Sahara oil field, and that his Libyan colleagues had taken him to a nearby N. Korean 'field hospital'. The doctors there fixed him up well; but saw Minsoo (being from S. Korea) as some sort of capitalist enemy to be harassed a bit!
Another time when I had a painful abscessed tooth and fever, Minsoo insisted that he walk with me through the night, to find a drug store, where I might be able to buy 'over the counter' antibiotics and pain killers. We couldn't find any, but he then said he knew of an ex-pat, Polish nurse who worked in a local hospital. So on his urging we walked to her residence compound. Hallelujah, she not only had medicines that helped; but put me in touch with a British trained, Libyan dentist (who did a root canal extraction the next evening)!
In 1999, when Minsoo and I had both returned permanently from Libya to Calgary; Heather and I met his Family. It was then 'revealed' that Minsoo clandestinely brewed wine and beer at home; in a neat, bricked up, basement 'man cave' of his own construction! He was a 'do-it-himself, master bricklayer' of many secret talents; but I suppose that I should not have been surprised about the booze making, after all he did have a doctorate in chemical engineering! It's just that he never let on, or practiced that valuable skill in that 'dry' Land of the Sand, where so many others did! And Great Scott, the usually 'quiet as a mouse', Dr Minsoo was a 'famous', Calgary opera and gospel choir singer, as well (who in Benghazi would have guessed that).
In the early 2000s I resumed demanding, consulting travel to Latin America, Asia and Africa and, unfortunately, we lost touch. Later I learned that Rosemarie and Minsoo had moved to Nelson, BC. A few years ago I did a poorly organized internet search for the their contact details there, but found none. I did not know that, by then, they were back in Calgary, that Minsoo was not well, and in the Bowview Manor. Pity, for I would have liked to have visited with him there.
Rest in Peace, Minsoo Choi, my trusted friend; you had a “very good innings” and will be missed by us, and by many others, including your 'Benghazi Buddies'!
“God’s fingers touched him, and he slept”.
Tennyson: In Memoriam LXXXV.
May God bless, comfort and give you all the strength you need to endure your great loss; and to recover gently during the difficult days ahead!
Rich and Heather Mayers
