Chungsuk Kim

family in Arlington, Virginia. She was a loving, generous and resilient individual who was a

devoted mother, grandmother, wife, sister, and friend.

Born in Seoul, Korea in 1935, Chungsuk was the second of eight siblings. She and her husband

of 65 years, Myungsoo, had five children. In Korea and then America, Chungsuk worked

tirelessly, both in her work and personal life. She graduated from Seoul Sabon Teacher’s

College and was a third-grade teacher in Seoul until the spring of 1966 when Myungsoo

accepted a job in the U.S. with the Korean Service of the Voice of America. Later that year,

after careful consideration, they decided it was best to raise their children in the U.S. and

Chungsuk, with four young children in tow, officially immigrated and joined her husband in

Washington, DC. Despite facing the many challenges of starting life in a new and foreign land,

Chungsuk and Myungsoo helped many other Koreans, including five of Chungsuk’s sisters and

her brother, to immigrate to the US and get settled in the Washington, DC area.

Chungsuk lived her life with a sense of humor, unwavering strength, and optimism. She cared

deeply about her family and acted as the steady force that held it together, even across great

distances. Her warm personality made her a joy to be around, and she was fiercely loved.

Chungsuk was a gifted gardener who was able to bring even the most withered plants back to

life and cultivated peaches and figs in her own yard. Among her favorites were her Christmas

Cactuses, which bloomed in her sunroom in winter, seemingly magically, year after year. She

was also a lover of music who encouraged all her children to learn to play music and did not

miss a single school performance.

She is survived by her husband, Myungsoo Kim, her children, Hoil (m. Erin Gilligan), Hoyun,

Hokyung (m. Alicia Liew), and Mia, her grandchildren, Yeonsoo Julian, Sebastian, Finn, and

Young-Hyun, her sisters, Eui Jung and Chung Hwa, and her brother, Sang Hun. Her family is

comforted to know she is reunited with her daughter, Jiyun, at long last.