Hyun Ki Lee

Born on February 11, 1925 in Singye, Hwanghae province, Hyun Ki was the eldest child in his family. He went to the south of Korea to pursue an education before being separated from his family following the division of the Korean peninsula. During the Korean War, he worked honorably alongside American soldiers as an interpreter.

The central factor driving his determination to come to the United States was his vision for a better life and an abundance of opportunity for his family. Hyun Ki married his beloved wife Hwa Yu in 1943, and in 1949 welcomed their first son, Suk In, followed by Suk Bo in 1954. With the help of an American soldier he met during the war, Hyun Ki obtained sponsorship to live and work in the U.S. and in 1955, made the difficult decision to embark on a courageous journey alone to establish roots in the U.S., striving for a bigger and brighter future for generations to come. While in the U.S., he worked several jobs while also studying at night for his civil engineering degree at Washington State University. In 1964, Hwa Yu and his sons joined him in Seattle and began a new, pioneering chapter together, as a family.

Throughout the next several decades, Hyun Ki took advantage of the myriad of opportunities that this country provided while never forgetting where he came from. A leader in his community, Hyun Ki was a key founding member of the Greater Seattle Korean Association in 1967 and later, served as its 4th and 5th president. He also served two terms as president of the Advisory Committee of the National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC) in Seattle, proposed the need for Korean bilingual teachers to the Seattle Department of Education, and led the effort to establish Seattle’s sister city relationship with Daejeon, presiding over construction of the Octagonal Pavilion in Daejeon Park in 1998. Among his many awards, he received a certificate of appreciation from President Bill Clinton in 1993 for his work as a community leader, and in 2019, was honored by the South Korean government with the Dongbaek Medal, the Third Class of the Order of Civil Merit, for his lifelong dedication to the Korean-American community.

Hyun Ki was a lifelong student with a gift for teaching others his many skills and talents. He shared his passions, instilling his love of golf in his sons and grandchildren, and passed down his appreciation for nature’s beauty and love of gardening. He also shared his joy of cooking foods like jams, gwakdugi, and dduk. Above all, he stressed the importance of education and personal development, while leaning on his Catholic faith to spread the word of God.

Hyun Ki is preceded in death by his wife Hwa Yu Lee, and eldest daughter-in-law, Soung Hee Lee. He is deeply missed and survived by his two sons, daughter-in-law Mee Ryoung Lee, grandchildren: Melissa, Dwight, Edwin, and Audrey, and great-grandchildren: Camden (9), Chloe (6), Elton (3), and Elle (8 mo).