Tag: in memoriam

In Memoriam. Lisa (Quan) Chong came to the US when she was 2 years old. Her mother left the family at age 5, then she was sent back to Korea at age 11, only to return to her father in Los Angeles at age 14. Despite her turbulent childhood, she graduated Loyola Marymount University and her passion is helping others by working in the nonprofit world. Hers is a story of struggle and resilience with a large dose of grace.

e, our 1st Place Winner, performs her piece “The Art of Bowing” at the first live Virtual ROAR Story Slam 2021. e is an attorney with a disability affecting her speech and mobility, but not her spirit. She opened Disability Law Collective, an affordable law practice providing legal advocacy for the everyday legal needs of people with disabilities and their families. She also started a non-profit housing cooperative for people with and without disabilities, called Able Community.

Hee Shin Suh was born to a noble, or yangban, family in 1924 in Jangsu, Jeollabuk-do. Mrs. Suh grew up with hired help and openly shares she wasn’t familiar with household chores when she immigrated to Ohio. She even recalls giving her kids under or overcooked rice multiple times and struggling to cook Korean dishes. Seeing her neighbors working and feeling unproductive at home, she found work as a seamstress and continued to work there for the next 20 years.

Mary Kim, born in North Korea, grew up in Seoul during both the Japanese occupation and the breakout of the Korean War. Ms. Kim shares her memories of being punished for speaking Korean and hearing rumors about women being recruited as comfort women in her hometown. She also recalls the difficulty of trying to stay alive during the war with vivid memories of scavenging and rationing out foods like potato powder and barley. Ms. Kim’s husband was able to immigrate to America, rare at the time, through his medical research work. Ms. Kim soon followed with their children with the dream of securing their family’s safety and future lives.

Fighting poverty and homelessness never stops for Jean Kim.

Born in 1935 in what is now North Korea, Jean Kim lived through the Japanese occupation and the Korean War, losing her language, family, and home.

Legacy Project video of Dr. Byoung G. Choh of Cleveland, Ohio interviewed by his daughter, Theresa Choh-Lee.