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SANG WON LIUS STORY- as told by Mom (Jan 2002)
My grandfather on my fathers side (Woo Sun Pil) was a civil servant in the Korean government. My grandparents had 13 children,
and all but two died as infants, both were girls. So my grandmother (Grandma Kim) went to pray in the temple in the mountains
and gave birth to my father. My grandmother was Buddhist. The rest of the family was Confucian and worshipped ancestors.
My grandmothers family name was Kim. No one knows her given name. She was called Mrs. Woo. I remember her being called
Sang Wons grandmother (Sang Won Halmouni).
My grandparents were very diligent and thrifty. They accumulated lots of land. But my grandfather didnt want to say what
his assets were. He just said he had a little vegetable field and a little rice paddy. Actually, they had about $500,000
of assets. They bought this big 9 bedroom house next to a temple. Thats where my father was born, and all of us were born.
My grandfather studied a lot and was very scholarly. This love of knowledge was passed down to the whole family.
During the civil war of 1918(?), my grandparents went to the country and because everyone was away from their homes, they
got to know my mothers family, the Wangs. My grandparents thought they were a nice country family, and they happened to have
a daughter about the age of their son. After the unrest settled they returned home and about a year later when it came time
to look for a match for my father, they contacted the Wangs, to arrange a marriage between their children. My mother was 16
and my father was 15. The newlyweds came to live in my grandparents house. It was a very big adjustment for my mother, since
she was a shy girl from the country, to come to the big city to marry into a rich family. But she quickly learned her role
as an obedient daughter in-law and cared for my grandma.
After my father graduated from high school, he went to law school. After he got the law degree, he got a job assignment in
the county government in another province. (Korea has 13 provinces.) After a couple of years, my grandfather wanted my father
to come back. Also, my father did not like working for the Japanese government. My grandfather had wanted to start his own
business, so he bought a store and offered his son the opportunity to run it for him. It carried stationery, sporting goods,
had a soda fountain, and upstairs they manufactured womens silk stockings and mens socks. I remember sometimes after school
I walked over to the store and I got ice cream. It made me very happy. I got my notebooks, pencils, and any school supplies
I wanted from the store. There were three young men working at the store. Sometimes one of them helped me with my homework.
But my father was not satisfied with just running a store. He branched out to the mining business, on his own. He was about
30 or 35. My grandfather did not have anything to do with the mining business. The mine was for gold and tungsten in Korea.
It was very hard to supervise from a great distance. People pocketed the ore so he lost money. My uncle and my cousin visited
the mines occasionally, but there wasnt very close supervision. He kept the mine for about 15 years. Because my father did
mining, my next brother studied mining to help my father. But by that time, the mining business was already going downhill.
My early childhood
I was born when my parents were about 20. My birthday is July 9, 1925. My parents had been married for about 5 years and my
grandma was very eager for children. Im the oldest of four children and only girl. Sang Yong was 3 years younger than I,
Sang Jun was 5 years younger than I. Sang Bong was 7 years younger than I. Sang is our generation name.
Sometimes those three boys ganged up on me and hid my books and my things. My mother would tell them, you better leave your
sister alone One time they were teaching me how to ride a bike, but they let go and I fell down. Since then I have never ridden
a bike.
I remember a Korean tradition which we used to celebrate for a babys one year birthday. Since there were so many children
that died as infants, it was a wonderful thing if they lived to their first birthday. We would celebrate with a big party
and put the child at a table. In front of the baby we would put symbols of their future and look which one they might pick.
This was a fun game. The symbols were: books (for a scholar), bow and arrow (for bravery), coins (for riches), a roll of thread
(for long life) and rice (prosperity). I guess I picked a book.
I remember when I was about 5 or 6, I started getting up early in the morning and would go over to my grandfathers room for
writing lessons. My fathers servant would write out characters with very thin lines, and I would trace them over darker, to
learn the proper form. Then my grandfather would check over my work. I received a lot of attention, since I was the first
grandchild, but my grandfather was very strict. I continued doing this most of my elementary years.
We lived in a big 9 bedroom house with 5 servants. I slept in the room with my grandmother and my parents room was next door.
My grandfather slept at the end of the hall and there was a servants room next door. Later my 3 brothers all slept together
in the same room. All of us children were born in this house, It had a white pine tree in front and I remember going to visit
it in 1996, when I last returned to Seoul. The tree was still there, after 70 years, but the house had been torn down by the
temple, which had bought the property next door.
Childhood games
I played mostly with my girl cousins. We played hop scotch, jump rope, Chinese jumprope (made with rubber bands tied together).
We would take turns standing in three corners. Then one person got to go around and jump in and out and count how many times
she could do it.
We would also play a game with pebbles called Kong Kee. We would pick up a pebble or two and bounce it up onto the back of
that same hand, then catch it with that same hand. We would see how many pebbles we could pick up. The record was about
15.
Also we played a game with stone-scissors-paper. Jean Jean Bouk Kouk. It was like Mother May I. Two people or two teams
played. If scissors, you get two steps, rock 5 steps, pojagi gets 10 steps. After you went the length of the whole court,
youd win.
There was also a juggling game with bean bags. Youd do it by yourself. There was a song you sang as you juggled. If you
dropped a bag, you had to start the song over from the beginning.
For new Years we usually played see saw. There was a pivot like a bale of hay and a long board. Each of two girls would
stand on an end. Then we would jump, see how high you could go. Sometimes we could jump as high as the roof. I would get
scared and not go too high. There was a rope at the height you could reach so you could hang on if you lost your balance.
Early School Years
I started school at the age of 7. Each day I would walk to school and my nanny would carry my books. I was a very good student
and did whatever the teacher said. In the 6th grade I won a special award for beautiful writing. This was a great honor and
my grandfather was very proud.
I was a very picky eater. I didnt really like a lot of the food that I as given and that gave my grandmother fits. She would
have special food prepared for me like rice and meat, but I wouldnt eat it. If my nanny brought my breakfast to me late I
would say: Im not going to eat that, I have to go to school The only time I ever remember getting spanked was related to eating.
My grandma had asked my servant to prepare a special hot lunch for me and had her bring it to me at school. I didnt like it
and sent it back with the servant. When I got home my grandma spanked me, Grandma was very worried about my health because
I was sickly and many children died.
When I was about 10 years old my mother became a Christian. This was not popular with my grandparents, but they did not object
too strongly. My Mom began taking me to Sunday school occasionally, but we couldnt go too often because it was frowned upon
by the Japanese who were occupying the country. I dont remember my father or brothers ever going to church with us. My mother
was always a very gentle and caring person. She always said to me to look for something good in a person. My mother was a
very good daughter in law and served my grandmother faithfully. She managed the household well.
One of my favorite memories of those years was a day trip to the mountains with my mother. We went up to pick mushrooms to
eat. I was very surprised at how much my mother knew about wildlife. It was because she had grown up in the country.
During those years, I remember walking to my dads store after school for ice cream. It was only about 10 blocks away.
It was in those school age years when I made friends with my best friend, Yung Hee. She went to the same school I did and
we would often walk together. She lived next door in a bigger house than mine, since her father was a baron. I remember going
over to her house to study after school and sometimes I would sleep over. This was the beginning of a 70 year friendship with
Yung Hee that is today one of my most treasured friendships. How would I ever know at the time that later we would follow
each other to college and then to America? (now Yung Hee lives in Mount Kisko, New York, with her daughter, Karen. Her husband,
Jack died in 1991 and Karen isnt married. Karen works as a freelance artist for advertising agencies. Young Hee had met Jack
when she attended Duke University in North Carolina.)
In Korea, they didnt have Junior High, so after completing 6th grade in 1938, I took the entrance exam for high school. I
was very excited when I passed the entrance exam to get into the best high school in Seoul.
High School
In 1938 I started high school. I studied hard and tried to learn everything I could. We went to school from 8am to 5pom on
weekdays and half days on Saturday. We spent most of our free time studying. Even in the summer, the teachers would assign
a project to be done over the summer vacation, such as preparing a bug collection or plant collection.
But after school there were some activities and I tried ping pong and tennis. I also tried to learn to play the organ.
When I was 17, I took the important entrance exam for college. I studied hard in preparation for it. I was excited when I
learned that I had passed the exam and was accepted to the best girls university in Korea (Ewha). But I want sure if I wanted
to go, because it meant a long trip. But when I heard that Yung Hee had also gotten accepted, we discussed it and she said
lets go together (because her older sister had gone there). I was convinced.
The Japanese were occupying Korea during those years (it lasted for 36 years) and we were not allowed to speak Korean in public.
IN public we had to use Japanese names and speak only Japanese to everyone. I heard that the Japanese were very brutal, but
I didnt see much of it myself.
Ewah University
I started college in 1943. Life at the university was good. I studied hard and tried to do my best. Yung Hee and I decided
to study Home Economics together. In my senior year, Dean Im selected 6 girls from the class to study home economics abroad
in a special program. Each of us would be given a full scholarship and were assigned a Home Economics specialty to learn and
then we were to return to teach it to others. I wanted to study home management, but the teacher said that because I was good
at science, I should study nutrition. Young Hee chose textiles, since she was very artistic. Dean Im had studied at OSU herself
in 1930, so she had a a special connection there with the professors. So I was lucky to go to OSU.
During the 1940s the Japanese were becoming more harsh. They forced all the men in the country to become soldiers in their
army and fight overseas. So all of the women college students were sent to the country to fill teaching positions vacated
by the male teachers. In 1944 I was sent to the countryside to teach in a small village school. I stayed with the village
elder and taught 2nd grade. I had 80 kids in my class: 50 boys and 30 girls in 1 room. During this time there was severe food
rationing. I remember a few weekends, I would take the train back to Seoul to see my parents, Since food was more available
in the country, I asked one of the older student o help me and I would bring a 50 kilo bag of rice back to the city for my
parents.
It was also during this time that my younger brother, Sang Yun, died. He had been enrolled at the navel academy and had just
graduated. One day he received a message that all the graduates were to meet at a certain place for photographs. So he dressed
in his best uniform and went to the appointment, but never returned. The whole graduating class of men just disappeared. Later
we heard that all of them were shot by the Japanese. Our whole family was heartbroken.
It was during this time that both of my grandparents died. I was very sad since I was so close to both of them.
After two years of teaching, the Japanese occupation ended in 1945 and I was allowed to return to college and study. My friend,
Yung Ok Ahn was also returning and she switched to the school of Pharmacy. She tried to persuade me to switch too, but I wanted
to graduate. I could finish in 1 year if I stayed in Home Ec but it would have taken 2 years if I switched to Pharmacy. Yung
Ok Ahn went ahead and switched and later on went to graduate school and later returned to become the Dean of the school of
Pharmacy at Ewah. I maintained a friendship with her over the years and when we visited in 1985, she was our tour guide at
the school.
Going to America
It was during my senior year that I was chosen for the special overseas scholarship program. To help persuade my parents to
let me be a part of it, Dean Im arranged a special visit by a professor from her old college (in May 1948). Dean Milam was
the dean of the Home Economics Department at OSU. She had planned a special trip to Korea and China to encourage Home Economics
programs in these two countries. She visited Seoul and came to our home for dinner. She personally promised my parent that
she would take care of me, when I was in America, so my parents let me go. Later on Dean Milam wrote of this visit in her
book.
In July of 1948 I left Seoul on a US troop carrier, General Buckner. The crossing took 13 days and it was non-stop from Inchon
to San Francisco. The ship was a US soldier troop carrier and I was seasick and had to have an IV. There was only 1 Korean
family on board with me. Dean Milam came all the way down from Corvallis to meet me and we took a bus back to OSU together.
Even with Dean Milams help it was hard getting adjusted at first. Even though I had studied English, I had trouble understanding
them, because they had such odd accents. I remember having a very hard time with slang. One time I heard some girls say they
were going to have a white elephant sale. It took some explaining before I understood that this was really a rummage sale.
Dean Milam helped me arrange my finances. She helped me apply for a state Home Economics scholarship. Later Mrs. Im found
the Crusade scholars scholarship (from Methodist misson board) which was better. It paid for transportation, tuition, room
and board, books, equipment and a stipend ($20/month). I gave away the other scholarship to another student.
At OSU I stayed at the Witcom and Kent Houses, then later moved into Snell Hall in Sept. 1948. I stayed there until I graduated,
then stayed at a rooming house. My roommate was Katherine Ding for 2 years (at Snell Hall and the rooming house). I got a
3.98 GPA while I lived at Snell Hall, during my first semester, and got recognized for good grades. They gave me the bookworm
name card at the dinner table and I had to wear a dunce cap at dinner. I got all As except a folk dance class I got a B.
In the summer of 1949 I was taking an organic chemistry class and there met your father. He was very kind, helpful and enthusiastic,
though he struggled with English. He helped me fill my burrette because I was too short. I always stood on a stool.
During the 1949-1950 school year I worked on my masters thesis. I spent one semester collecting data and one semester writing
the thesis. My project was to study the effect of rice milling on vitamin B1. To do this I prepared 5 types of food for rats.
One was normal white rice, another was brown rice, another was partially milled rice, the fourth was converted rice and the
fifth was enriched rice. Each day I would feed the rice to the rats. (I had about 20 of them) and then I would make them dizzy
by rolling their tails in my hands. This spinning was intended to measure their sense of balance, because one of the effects
of lack of vitamin B1 is a loss of a sense of balance. The conclusion of the experiment was that the partially milled rice
was the most nutritious.
There were 3 copies of the thesis typed. One for department one for the library. And one for me. I finally bound my copy in
the summer of 2001.
During the second semester I helped another girl with her nutrition project as a human test subject. There were four of us
who had to eat a fixed diet that was rich in complex B vitamins for 35 days. This was cream of wheat for breakfast. Each morning
at 6 am I had to go to the nutrition lab and get my blood drawn to measure the vitamins. This was a very stressful time because
I was working on writing my own thesis too. So I would often stay up till 1 am and then get up at 6am to go to the lab.
In June of 1950 I graduated and began to make preparations to return to Korea. A few weeks after gradution I took a train
to Indiana to attend a meeting of all of the Crusade Scholars. I had been very fortunate to received this scholarship because
in addition to paying some of my room and board expenses, I also got $20/month for other expenses. I was also elected to the
Motar Board (Home Ec honor society) but decided not to join because there were monthly dues and it would do me no good when
I returned to Korea. Your father and I knew that nothing would work out between us, even though he wanted me to marry him.
I was committed to return to Korea to teach.
Change in Plans
On June 25, 1950, during the Crusade Scholars convention at Depauw Univ in Greencastle IN, I was shocked when Mrs. Billingsly
from the Methodist Mission Board told me that war had broken out in Korea and the US was fighting too.
I was fearful and didnt know what to do because all of my equipment had already been packed in sea cargo crates and was ready
to be shipped back to Korea from San Francisco. I already had a ticket to leave on July 9th. I had purchased all the equipment
needed to set up an animal lab for continuing my research and teach, when I returned to Ewha.
So I came back to Corvallis and asked my professors what should I do? They told me to wait a little while and see what would
happen. So I got a job in the soils lab and nutrition lab.
Dr. Fink said to go on and get a PHD because I needed to stay in school to keep my visa. So I applied for programs at other
universities and Kansas State Univ was my best choice, but their program was more oriented toward food rather than nutrition.
I enrolled anyway and Dad drove me all the way to Kansas in his 2 seater DeSoto. He dropped me off and went on to Wisconsin
to visit the Pulp and Paper Inst. I took graduate classes and did some research on dried eggs (half classes and half research).
But I was still very uncertain about my plans. We decided to go ahead and ship the lab equipment by sea freight, but I wasnt
allowed to travel. When the equipment arrived, Dean Im wrote back and said that she was very sad that they equipment arrived
but there was no girl with it. For 4 months at KSU I stayed at a professors house
Your Dad drove back to Corvallis and continued in school. I told him I would never marry a man who didnt have a regular job,
so a few months later he called me long distance and said hed gotten a job at Weyerhauser, why dont you come back and we can
get married! I wasnt sure what to do, so I wrote Dr. Fink and my Father. Dr. Fink wrote back and acted like my mother. She
said that I could serve my country by building a good family. My father said that China was a big country, like our big brother.
Dean Milam was neutral. Both Dr Fink and Dean Milam were never married.
Getting Married
I decided to get married and came home by train on 12/23/51. I got ready to be married in 5 days. Rev Bulkley married us,
even though he was a Presbyterian minister I knew him because I had stayed at his house for 2 summers. Mrs. Bulkley made most
of the arrangements for me. I wore the white dress that I wore for graduation and about 50 people came to our wedding. Dr.
Fink poured the punch. I bought a short veil and silver sandles. Many years later Mimi Wu mentioned that I gave them to her
and she wore them at her wedding.
We went on a short honeymoon to the beach, then I immediately went back to Kansas to finish my school semester, but Dad called
me later long distance and asked me to come back because he had burned his hand at work. He wanted me to come home and take
care of him.
So in January of 1952 at the end of the semester I moved to Eugene, Oregon. I started classes at Univ of Oregon and we lived
in a trailer. We only lived there about one month, then in March we moved to a little apartment. I took classes of college.
We stayed there until Dec 1952. Gloria was born in Nov 1952. But Dad had to go to the TB hospital in Salem in Dec. 1952.
With Daddy in the hospital I had to learn to drive very quickly. Since we lived in Eugene, I called the high school to speak
to the drivers ed teacher. He gave me one lesson and then suggested I go for the test. I had a babysitter take care of Gloria
and I took the test. I barely passed with 75 points, because I couldnt parallel park well. After I could drive, Daddys boss,
Joe Brown and Mr. Hanson helped me move to Salem in January of 1953.
Daddy was in the hospital for 13 months. Because we werent US citizens we had to pay many medical bills. We had gotten 3 months
salary from Weyerhaeuser and 6 months disability, but I still had to work to pay the bills. I worked in a buffet restaurant
at first, then later Dr Brown helped me find work in the Salem Memorial Hospital as a medical technician. I worked there for
5 months until Daddy was discharged in February 1954. We then went back to school at Corvallis so Daddy could register at
OSU. This was so that he could get a chemical engineering degree, since even though he already had his chemistry degree, there
were more job opportunities for chemical engineers. He finished one semester. Meanwhile he worked in the dairy lab and I worked
in the Soils lab.
Life in Springfield
In 1954, after Daddy graduated we returned to Springfield and he started to work at Weyerhaeuser again. His boss had been
very kind to him and saved his job while he was in the hospital. Daddy got promoted at Weyerhaeuser to an analytical chemist,
which was a daytime job. That year we bought our first house. I was expecting David to be born. We bought the E street house
for 50 dollars. The mortgage was $65/month. We had the old white freezer on the back porch and we still have that freezer
today. During that time Daddy met Doug Taylor and they started to car pool. Doug could always find the house by the white
freezer on the back porch. David was born on October 5, 1954, while we lived in this house.
In August 1958 we bought the Quinault Street house for 2 months of back payments on the GI loan. At that house we built a
tree house in the back yard and raised chickens on the side of the house. Charles and Bernice Smith were our neighbors. He
was the high school principal. And Dick and Gail Van Zanten were neighbors on the other side. Ethyl and Gus Renwick lived
across the street. They were all school teachers. Daniel was born on November 7, 1958 and Patty was born on August 14, 1961,
while we lived there.
The kids went to Elizabeth Page Elementary school. Daddy was active in the Jaycees starting in 1956.
In 1959 Judy Pyle and her 2 girls stayed with us for 2 months while they were waiting for their military housing to open up
in France, because her husband had gone ahead. So 9 people shared 1 bathroom.
In 1965 we built the Pleasant street house. This was a major investment and cost about $20,000. It was a lot and a half with
a lot of lawn to mow. It was 4 bedrooms. We did a lot of the finish work ourselves. We painted the outside (it used a lot
of paint). We put in step stones in the backyard (with the Korean alphabet on each step), we put in handprints in the sidewalk,
we built a fish pond (which almost collapsed when it was being poured), we built the fence around the back yard, and even
finished the second bathroom ourselves. The house was in the shape of a Chinese temple with a roof line that rose to peaks
with cedar shingles and the chinese character for good luck on the door. One day the city came by and tore out the concrete
in the parkway that had our handprints, because they were putting in a new sewer line. We were very upset, but they eventually
repoured it. The house had beautiful translucent butterflies in the screen by the entrance way and there was a trap door from
the living room to the garage to pass firewood through. One time Patty had to sneak through the trap door to get into the
house because we were locked out. We were going to live there forever, but Daddy was transferred to Longview 5 years later.
During 1966-1969 I worked in the Weyerhaeuser chart room. We used the extra money mostly for house expenses, but in 1969 we
took a family trip to Disneyland in LA. When we were ready to move we let the packers pack and we drove to Disneyland. On
that trip we drove the Buick Special all the way, but it blew out the transmission when we were in Eureka, Oregon. The only
garage in town agreed to fix it, but at an astronomical price. We had to wait around in a park all day. On the way down we
visited Judy Pile and Angie Knights (in Ashland OR). Then we moved to Longview.
We were active in Ebbert Memorial church and the boy scouts.
Life in Longview
In 1969 we moved to Longview because Daddy got transferred to the research department.
In 1970 my oldest daughter, Gloria, went to college. She was a very good student and graduated second in her class. She had
gotten accepted to Cal Tech and even though we had never visited there, every one said it was the best engineering school
in the country. She had gotten a National Merit Scholarship and it covered all her expenses, but we couldnt even afford to
take her down for a visit. This was the first year that girls would be admitted to this all boys school and Gloria was one
of only 30 girls. I remember on the day when she left for college, I drove her to Portland to get on the plane. I cried all
the way back home because is was so sad to see her go off to college. I looked in her room and it was empty and drizzling
that day. I was very happy when she called and said that she had gotten there safely. During her first semester for parents
day, we had planned on both of us visiting her at school, but since we didnt have much money, we decided to have only Daddy
visit and to use the extra money to buy her a bicycle to get to class.
When we lived in Longview we attended Longview Community Church. I was part of the Morning Circle and made lots of friends.
Dr Irwin was our pastor and we did a lot of work for the Longview Seamens Center and the Rotary. We did the 2 year overview
of the Bible. In 1972 we had a benefit dinner for the Seamens Center. We planned for only 250 people but we sold out so Daddy
had to go out and get more food. We had a lot of seamen come over to our home and several times we ate on the ship while it
was docked in port. I remember one Korean captain knew my brother who had been killed after graduating from the merchant marine
academy. They were classmates. At Christmas time we had kids fill shoeboxes with treats and toiletries and we brought them
to the seamen. We had yellow bikes and a small store front for the men to visit and play pool. One time I had to go to the
hospital in the middle of the night to interpret for a Japanese Seaman who had been shot.
I went to Korea by myself in 1972 to see my mother, since my father passed away in 1971. I visited mostly my classmates and
my family. I was there 2 weeks. I had to arrange for all my kids to go to church camp so I could be gone. Gloria and Daddy
took Arnie Ester to go the ocean.
In 1979 Daddy took a Chinese delegation from Portland for 35 days trip.
Life in Federal Way
In January 1980 Daddy was transferred to Federal Way and we bought our house on 36th Street. Daniel and Patty had already
gone back to college, so we moved alone. It was such a snowy day that the big moving truck couldnt make it up the hill, so
they had to unload at the end of the street and reload it on a smaller truck to get it up the hill.
In 1982 Yumi Saito a Rotary exchange student from Japan stayed with us for 3 months she went ot Decator high school.
In 1982 Daddy was offered early retirement as part of a staff reduction at Weyerhauser. Even though we didnt want to stop
work so soon since he was only 58, they made it attractive for him. He consulted for one year and went to night school to
get his MBA. I was kind of angry to God though because this was not quite what I had planned. I had hoped that since the kids
were now almost done with college we could save for our retirement. But God had a different plan. In fact it was only because
Daddy worked as realtor that he was able to take me to Tacoma every day for 7 weeks when I had radiation therapy for breast
cancer, in 1984. Also 6 month of chemotherapy was once per week in Tacoma. Somehow it was all part of Gods plan. God provided
for us through our retirement savings and our kids support. He blessed us with very good children.
In 1985 the whole family (except David) took a trip to china and Korea to meet their uncles aunts and cousins for the first
time. We went to all of our relatives at their own homes. We went to Japan to visit Yumi (our foreign student) and then went
to Korea to see brother and cousin and then to Hong Kong, Canto and Beijing. We saw the great wall and famous palaces and
Ming tomb. We took a train to Shenyang, Dailan and Chichi-Har, then Shanghai, Qualin and Canton. We left via Hong Kong and
Hawaii. We were gone 23 days in total. David couldnt go, but later took a trip for business and stopped in Japan. He brought
Daddys lost camera back which had been recovered by a friend in Tokyo.
While we lived in Federal Way we were active in the Rotary and the Steel Lake Presbyterian Church. In 1989 Daddy helped start
the Federal Way Community Caregiving Network which included the community suppers for homeless, the job center and the emergency
assistance. He also helped start a chapter of Habitat for Humanity of South King County, He was recognized several times for
his selfless volunteer work in the community.
In 1996 we went to China and brought our old friend Doug Taylor to go to Daddys 50 year class reunion. We went to Shanghai
and Ningbo. We were gone 2 weeks.
In 1998 we went to Korea with Melissa and Jocelyn. We just went to Seoul for 2 weeks. It was Daniels idea for his girls to
see their grandmas home.
On June 20, 2001, my husband of 49.5 years died. It was a great loss for me, since we were only 6 months from reaching our
50th wedding anniversary.
In September 2001 I fell down in my kitchen and broke my hip. Many people came to help me to recover and do errands. I am
very grateful for all my friends that came to help me.
On December 28, 2001 our family had a private memorial service for Daddy to scatter his ashes into the Pacific Ocean. Our
family went on a boat from the Long Beach harbor near LA. This was his wish to allow his ashes to drift back to china. He
is now in heaven and I am preparing to move to LA to be closer to my children and grandchildren.
On March 5th I suffered a cardio-pulmonary arrest and entered a deep coma. I went on to heaven on March 13th, 2002 at 9:45AM.
I am up in heaven with Louie and Jesus, looking down on you, an Angel up in heaven protecting all my loved ones.
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