San Francisco Examiner

Colleagues remember family man who loved fishing
San Francisco dentist David Gong was a family man who loved sport fishing and made his own fishing rods, several people who knew him said.

Antonio Ramirez, a security guard at the medical building where Gong practiced dentistry, described him as a “good guy,” who was married with children. He would occasionally do charity work, Ramirez said, treating homeless people for free, and often showed up at work with his fishing rod.

“He was always going fishing, always coming in with his fishing rod,” Ramirez said. “I never saw him with a fish, though.”

Gong, whose dental practice was located on Van Ness Avenue near Jackson Street, graduated from University of California, San Francisco in 1977 and became a member of the San Francisco Dental Society a year later, Executive Director Deborah Elam said. Elam said Gong’s “heartbroken” colleagues described him as a “Renaissance man who could do anything better than anyone.”

“He was loved and admired by colleagues and friends,” she said.

Many described Gong as a talkative, friendly man.

“Let’s put it this way — he was one of the nicest doctors in the building,” valet Daniel Cathey said.

Rebecca Turner, a patient of Gong’s, said he was an avid fisherman who also enjoyed watching bicycle racing. He had just expanded his office, she said, and was hoping to hire another dentist to work there.

Another one of Gong’s patients, who was on-scene after the incident Thursday morning, became visibly upset when he learned who the victim was.

“Oh my God, that’s my dentist,” he said. “He was a really sweet man. This is just too emotional.”

-By Marisa Lagos
San Francisco Examiner,
Published: Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:29 PM PDT