Jung Ho Yum

He is survived by his wife and two daughters. He married HYANG JA LEE on October 27, 1973 in Montreal. ANNE YUM (Adrian Mah) resides in Toronto and CATHERINE YUM in Montreal.

In Canada, he is survived by his younger brother DAE HO YUM currently residing in Montreal with his wife, 3 children (Karen, Charles, Lisa), and 3 grandchildren.

He is also survived by his sister-in-law MYUNG HEE KIM of Waterloo and her husband, and their daughters (Betty, Diana) and 2 grandchildren living in the United States.

Our amazing Dad and husband was born in Iksan, South Korea on April 28, 1941. The lunar calendar was commonly used in those days so he was unaware of his Western calendar date of birth. Upon immigrating to Canada, he chose November 5, 1941 as his birthday making him legally 6 months younger. Way to go, Dad!

Throughout our lives, Dad sprinkled us with stories of growing up during the Korean war. Stories like: Hour long walks to school, not being able to write final exams in high school because the family could not afford exam fees, losing family during the war, and often going to bed hungry. Yet, he had a dream to live one day in North America and apparently spent many a late nights studying English text books - even if it seemed an impossible dream.

Dad found employment at Philco-Ford in the early 1970s in Vietnam and worked there for a number of years. From there, he travelled across Europe and eventually landed in Canada in 1972. No friends, no family, no place to stay, speaking little English and no French, and with just a few hundred dollars in his pocket.

In Montreal, Dad built a life for his family. With his mechanical background, he worked a variety of jobs at various companies such as VW Porsche and Hewitt-Caterpillar. He spent a year working in the Arctic temperatures in Resolute Bay. Eventually, he became his own boss and ran a grocery store (Monaco on rue Sherbrooke est) for many years. Around 1988, he decided to branch into his own refrigeration business and operated his one-man Correcte Refrigeration.

Dad was such a hardworking man who maintained a positive attitude throughout life even when times go really tough. Dad taught us to persevere and always look at the bright side of things. He was a true optimist. Dad appreciated the value of an education because he wasn’t offered the opportunity in his youth. We didn’t have much money growing up, but Dad never said “ no” if we wanted to buy books - because in his eyes, reading and education was a wonderful investment in his daughters’ lives.

Dad was an honest man without fault. Anyone who met Dad appreciated his big smile and despite his English being less than perfect, he always tried to communicate and engage with people. Dad loved being with people and was active in the Korean community.

Dad met many good people throughout his life who have helped in many ways. We cannot name them all here but would like to have a warm “shout out” to Marcel and Frances Plante. We want you to know that Dad considered you family and would often tell us that you always treated him and Mom like your own family. People like you are one-in-a-million and your friendship with our Dad enriched his life more than you’ll ever know.

With his sudden, unexpected passing last Saturday, our hearts are broken and there is a painful void that only Dad can fill. Mom misses you terribly and wonders how her life will go. This year would have been their 47th wedding anniversary.

Fishing trips, walks in the woods, foraging wild edible mushrooms and berries, drives up north - these are the things that Dad and Mom looked so forward to doing together in the summer.

Life will be different without Dad. We will adjust to this new normal slowly and painfully. We are comforted, however, knowing that Dad is at peace, at rest, and with his strong faith in God, he is in heaven living it up!

This isn’t goodbye, Dad. You just got a head start to heaven. We’ll meet up again and it will be like the good old days. We love you so much and miss you terribly.