Submitted by Kyle Hwang
Erseille Chamond Hwang (known as Chamond) was born to John and Julie Hwang in 1996. As the youngest of three sons to an immigrant family from Taiwan, Chamond was always the one that could put a smile on everyone’s face, whether it was his clever antics or quick-thinking, yet incredibly dry jokes. This earned him the name “Chamonkey”.
Chamond followed his older brothers, Kyle and Ronk to Boys High. Besides excelling academically, Chamond played in the orchestra, played the Last Post weekly, directed House plays, and played goal-keeper in hockey. After matriculating, Chamond was awarded a scholarship to study dentistry at the University of Pretoria where he was again loved by his peers and lecturers alike. He once again excelled in his studies and was selected to serve as a student ambassador for the university. He also travelled to Taiwan and Cape Town to visit his brothers many times in the midst of his busy schedule.
Despite his successes, Chamond also suffered numerous hardships during his life: he was crushed by a steel gate at the age of just five, fell off a balcony once and suffered from concussion after being hit in one of his hockey matches. After school he was diagnosed with sleep apnea, where he had to sleep with a CPAP machine to aid him every night. After his dental studies we went to on to practice at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Nelspruit at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sadly, Chamond passed away on 17 July 2022, shortly after his 26th birthday. His memorial was attended by many of his classmates, friends and members of the church. Both the venue as well as the online meeting were at maximum capacity as many came to pay their final respects to their colleague, friend and brother.
Although a son to Christian workers, Chamond was never at the forefront of so-called religious work. However, many testified at the service that although many knew him as was loud and outgoing, Chamond did tremendous, silent work behind the scenes that no one knew about until the memorial. Many shared how Chamond would comfort, accompany, entertain or just be there for them in ways not known to many.
There is no doubt that Chamond left us too early with a unique void that only he had in our hearts. He is survived by his parents, John and Julie, and his two older brothers Kyle and Ronk.
“So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
