Myung Soon Park

Ms. Myung Soon Park was born in Chuncheon, Korea, a city approximately 50 miles northeast of Seoul and 25 miles from the North Korean border, on May 3, 1921, to Dong Hoon Park, a civil engineer and Hee Namkung, a homemaker. She was the second eldest of four siblings (one older sister and two younger brothers). Raised during a period in which Japan occupied Korea, Ms. Park was forced to learn the Japanese culture and language. She was an excellent student. Not only was she the first Korean graduate from the Japanese girls’ high school in Chuncheon, but she was also near the top of her class. She was about to attend college in Japan, when she was introduced to her future husband, Ki Chang Kim, by a man hired by her father to custom build their family home. Mr. Kim, a graduate of Seoul National University, was a pharmacist and a medical doctor. Ms. Park and Mr. Kim married in 1939 and had three children, two sons, Young Sun and Young, and a daughter, Young Ja.

Ms. Park experienced two significant personal tragedies in her early adulthood. First, her younger brother was forced to fight for Japan during World War II, shortly after graduating from high school and getting married. He never returned from the war. Ms. Park’s mother, deeply affected by her missing son, always held out hope and waited for her son’s return until she passed away. Second, Ms. Park’s husband passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack at the age of 33, three weeks after the birth of their last child. Widowed at the age of 22, Ms. Park was able to care for her three young children through the help of her extended family. Ms. Park graduated with a degree in fashion design, but she was not able to begin a career in that field because of the Korean War, during which time she and her family had to move constantly between Chuncheon and Seoul.

When her daughter and son-in-law left Seoul and went to the United States in 1971, Ms. Park became the primary caregiver for her three grandchildren, until her grandchildren joined their parents in the U.S. in 1972. In 1975 she immigrated to the United States to join her daughter in Sacramento, California, and once again became the primary caregiver for her three grandchildren while her daughter and her son-in-law worked full time. Ms. Park was very proud of her grandchildren. Like their grandmother, they each graduated at the top of their class in high school. Two of her grandchildren became lawyers, and one became a medical doctor.

A long-time resident of Sacramento, Ms. Park became active in the city’s Korean-American senior citizen association, serving in leadership positions as Vice President and Treasurer. She was very strong and independent and helped others to be as well. She assisted other Korean-American senior citizens with acclimating to life in the United States, including navigating the complicated public transportation system in Sacramento as well as the bureaucratic maze of applying for social services and signing up for classes in English as a second language. She became a U.S. citizen in 1979.

When her granddaughter entered medical school, Ms. Park, in her late 70s, left Sacramento and went to New York City to once again become a primary caregiver, this time to her great grandson. Ms. Park was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004. After surgery and treatment, she came to Colorado to convalesce with her daughter. Realizing that she could not adequately care for her ailing mother, Ms. Park’s daughter did extensive research and discovered that the Mt. St. Francis nursing home was one of the best facilities in Colorado and the right one for her mother. In 2005, despite an extensive waiting list and long odds, Ms. Park was able to gain admission to Mt. St. Francis two weeks after she had applied. God had answered the prayers of Ms. Park’s family, Father Cyrus Gallagher and others who were praying for Ms. Park.

Ms. Park loved Mt. St. Francis. Initially, when she was more active, she enjoyed gardening in the basement, doing arts and crafts, and helping the staff and other residents. She was loved and well-cared for by the staff in her final years. Now, Ms. Park’s final resting place is at the Columbarium at Mt. St. Francis.

Ms. Park lived a long and fulfilling life. She overcame tragedy at a young age and was very strong and independent. She loved art, gardening and travel. She was an excellent cook and seamstress and had a very green thumb. But most of all, she loved taking care of her family, especially young children, and she will be terribly missed by her loved ones. Ms. Park is survived by her youngest brother, two sons, a daughter, four grandsons, three granddaughters and five great grandchildren.