Alfred S. Tung, M.D.

Alfred S. Tung, M.D.

Alfred "Al" of O’Hara Twp., passed away at his home on Friday, April 18, 2025. He was 80 years old. Beloved husband of nearly 50 years to Diane (Crago) Tung; loving father of Simon Tung (Neng), Damien Tung and Brandon Tung (Rachel); cherished grandfather of Josh, Alex, Dolores and Remy; dear brother of Joy Au, Stephanie Tung and Vincent Tung.

Alfred was born Tung Sik To on June 9, 1944 in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong to parents Tung Wai Ting and Fung So Sum, the youngest of their four children together. He was an energetic child and a strong student, graduating first in his high school class in math and science in Hong Kong.  At the age of 17, he was accepted into a six-year Doctor of Medicine program at the University of Melbourne in Australia. In Australia, he was required to adopt a Western name and chose “Alfred” based on his favorite film director Alfred Hitchcock.

During his time as a medical student, he kept various side jobs around Melbourne as a waiter, tram conductor and postal worker. Upon completion, he moved to the United States to undertake a career in Anesthesiology and Pain Management, which would last nearly 40 years. He conducted research at the University of Pittsburgh and the Mayo Clinic and presented his findings locally and internationally. He continued his career as a practitioner to develop Pain Management into an established subspecialty and was the first to use epidural/spinal injection of morphine for relief of post-operative pain. His years of work included posts as the Chief Anesthesiologist at Presbyterian-University Hospital and Forbes Metropolitan Health Center, as well as Director of the Forbes Pain Management Center before establishing his own private practice in Pain Management. He maintained a compassionate and pragmatic approach to medicine with an obstinate focus on patient comfort and relief. He loathed making any patient wait beyond their appointment time. As he said in his clear and direct approach to work and life, “To help someone stop hurting is very satisfying, because everyone, including myself, has experienced pain. I feel good knowing that I have contributed to the care and treatment of it through my work and research.”

Al’s seemingly limitless energy fueled many different hobbies and activities, including music and movies of all types, ballroom and line dancing. He saw The Beatles perform live in concert Melbourne in 1964. He loved puzzles and games and believed anything worth doing was worth doing well. He once bowled a 300, and he won the Victoria state bridge championship in Australia. He continued to play duplicate bridge tournaments for many years and always seemed to end up with the most matchpoints.

He and his wife Diane enjoyed many travels together, visiting friends and relatives and taking cruises throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean and South America. He delighted in sharing photos and eagerly assumed the role of photographer at every occasion.

He had a special love for tennis, a passion he passed on to his entire family. He was an active member of the tennis community and won many mixed doubles championships at the Fox Chapel Racquet Club, but sportsmanship and the simple joy of hitting the ball around with friends and family were always most important to him. He was also an early adopter of pickleball, long before its widespread popularity. Even as he battled Parkinson's later in life, Al maintained his sense of humor, whether he was cracking a joke for a caretaker or pretending to be a ninja to the delighted giggles of his grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in his honor on Monday, May 26th at 11 a.m. at the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, 384 Fox Chapel Rd.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s.

Arrangements by the Weddell-Ajak Funeral Home, Aspinwall.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Alfred S. Tung, M.D., please visit our floral store.