Jung Jin OH

She was 96.

She was born in the small town of Chungyang, South Korea, on August 15, 1928, the

youngest of six children whose loveliness and gifted voice made her the beauty and songbird

of Chungyang. Our late father, Tong Yal Oh, couldn’t believe his luck when he met his

future wife shortly after graduating from medical school, and throughout their marriage that

took place just before the start of the Korean War, he called her his lucky charm.

Beyond her surface beauty, our mother’s instinct for survival and service to others revealed a

warrior of the first order. Her uncanny intuition, grit, and ingenuity proved decisive not

only to our father’s survival and success but to the fate of their families and friends

devastated by the war.

At the age of 42, our mother embarked on a new life when she immigrated with her

husband, five children, and mother-in-law to the United States. Despite cultural and

financial hardships, our mother filled our home with an abundance of music, dancing,

laughter, and incredibly delicious food. Her generous and lively personality turned our house

in Philadelphia into a beloved gathering place for newly arrived immigrants, especially young

Korean musicians and students living far from home.

She herself was an enthusiastic life-long learner, always open to the new. She never quite

mastered English but took decades of ESL classes. She loved her opera lessons, taught

herself how to swim at the tender age of 50, and got so good at table tennis that seniors

decades younger were afraid to take on the formidable Mrs. Oh.

Anyone who entered our mother’s orbit was lucky to experience her kindness and support,

as well as the pleasures of her tasty palate, witty storytelling, and outrageous sense of humor.

Her dream as a young girl to become an opera singer didn’t come true, but the depth of our

mother’s humanity and resounding fun-loving spirit made her life sing.

Our mother is preceded in death by our father in 2015 and is survived by her five children and their spouses: Jaekuen and Hyangsoon Oh, Jaeyoung Chung, Sophia and Seung Kim,

Jaehoon Oh, and Hyun Mi Oh; her grandchildren and their spouses: Phillip Oh, Iris and Andy Stevenson, Natalie and Ryan Luikens, Dylan Kim, Max and Joyce Kim, Cyrus Imbernino, and Mia Imbernino; and her great-grandchildren: Avery, Eli, Summer, Aiden, Connor, and Summer’s new sister on the way.

She loved and touched all of us deeply. Her light and laughter will grace our family for

generations to come.

A Catholic funeral mass will be held to honor and celebrate her life on February 8, Saturday

morning at 10 am: Holy Korean Martyrs Catholic Church, 1523 McLaughlin Avenue, San

Jose, CA 95122.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to the Korean American

Community Foundation of San Francisco at https://www.kacfsf.org/ways-to-give or sent to

KACF-SF, 3031 Tisch Way, 110 Plaza West, San Jose, CA 95128.