Junghee Lee

JUNGHEE LEE

(이정희, 李貞姫, nee Han) age 88, born November 12, 1933, passed away May 14, 2022. Beloved wife to Sanghwan Lee (deceased 2013), mother to Jinho Lee, Kathryn (Joohyun) Lee, and Karen (Joohee) Smith. 

Junghee was born in Seoul, South Korea.  She worked at the Hospital College of Medicine attached to Seoul National University from 1955 to 1961 as a Nurse, and from 1962 to 1963 as a Head Nurse.  She earned a maternity hospital license in 1957 and was proud of her work delivering babies.  She graduated from Kyonggi College in 1960, and from Seoul Nursing School in 1965, after which she worked as a school nurse.  She emigrated to the United States in 1973.  In 1976, her family joined her, becoming one of the early Korean-American families in Flushing, New York.  She became a naturalized citizen in 1980.  Junghee was “Mrs. Lee” to most of her friends and colleagues at Parsons Hospital in Flushing, NY, where she worked as a licensed practical nurse.  In the last part of her career, she worked at Flushing Manor Nursing Home in Flushing, NY, retiring from the nursing profession in 2008.  She was especially fond of the time spent walking in Flushing’s Bowne Park and vegetable gardening at home.

Raised during an era of Japanese occupation and surviving a war in which some of her siblings were lost, Mrs. Lee had an unstoppable work ethic and fierce sense of independence, even after she moved to Ohio following the death of her husband.  We will miss our visits, which inevitably started with “are you (working) five days (this week)?” and ended with “time (for you) to go home to take care of your family!”  She was dearly loved and will be missed by all.  

No public service is planned.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation to the charity of your choice.   We would like to express thanks to the members of the Korean Central Presbyterian Church of Brecksville, OH, for welcoming her into their community.  We are grateful also to the staff and friends she made at Chippewa Place of Brecksville, OH, and for the staff who later cared for her at Danbury Senior Living’s memory care unit in Broadview Heights, OH.

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