Obituary of Min J. Kim

In Memory of Min J. Kim (Susan Kim) 1943 - 2020 Min Jung Kim, a resident of Rutherford, NJ, took her very last breath on November 8, 2020 at the age of 77. With aching and broken hearts, we mourn this shocking loss. Words cannot express how much we will miss her deeply and immensely. We may never fathom why her life was snatched away so suddenly and so abruptly. She was the wife of (late) Young Koon Kim; loving mother of Jimmy Kim and mother-in-law of Haeli Lee; mother of Jane Lee and mother-in-law of Mark Lee; adoring grandmother of Sofia, Shannon, Russell, Roger and April. She will also be dearly missed by many family members in different time zones: two older sisters and one younger brother in South Korea; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law in bicoastal U.S. and South Korea; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews in the United States, South Korea, New Zealand, and other parts of the world. Spanning far and wide, she touched the lives of many family members, friends, colleagues, association members, church members, and those in her inner and outer circles. She was born and raised in Seoul, Korea as the third daughter of a family of six. A while after she graduated from Duksung Women’s University, she got married and later gave birth to her son and daughter. In 1977 when she disembarked from the plane and stepped onto the tarmac of Honolulu International Airport where the scent of hibiscus leis lingered, her immigrant life began. Honolulu, Hawaii was a destination of temporary paradise, veiling the hardships ahead of running a small business in Queens and later in Staten Island. Her American dream also began. She became a prolific writer and passionate artist. Almost instinctively, writing and art came naturally to her. Whenever possible, she was able to juxtapose her writing pieces with her artwork side by side in her publications. In Korean, she wrote poems, essays, novels, and articles for The Korea Times, and was featured in South Bergenite. Her debut collection of essays, Darker the Night, the Brighter the Stars, was published in 1992, followed by Landscapes of the Heart, and novels Cheonggyecheon, Never Ending River, and The Practice of Departing. She studied at FIT and Art Students League, received recognition from the Art Association of Rutherford (AAR), and was the Special Winner in Western Painting from the 19th Korean Woman Artist Competition. She was a member of the Korean American Contemporary Art and Korean Writers Association. She held solo exhibitions at Young Bin Gallery in 2003, Rutherford Public Library in 2004, Rutherford United Gallery in 2005, Gallery 31 in Seoul, Korea in 2010, and Gallery Chun in Flushing, NY in 2015. She also held group exhibitions with the Korean-American Contemporary Arts, Greeley Square Gallery, JoongAng Ilbo, NY 32 Gallery, Arlington Professional Center Art Gallery, etc. Her paintings depicted various landscapes, from Central Park in NYC to countryside in South Korea, and all sorts of blooming flowers bursting with scent, color, and beauty. She enjoyed reading, writing, texting, blogging, drawing, sketching, painting, teaching, singing, dancing, cooking, traveling, sightseeing, road trips, cruise vacations, wellness activities, BBQs at the park, going to church, holidays, family gatherings and celebrations, and spending time with family, friends, and neighbors. Throughout it all, she was a devoted wife who dedicated her husband’s death anniversary as a day of remembrance with close family members every year. She loved life and embraced life to the fullest with everything and anything that human life can offer. She was insightful, energetic, productive, free-spirited, adventurous, and daring. She traversed the earth to different cities and towns, sights and sounds in several continents. Until her very last step, she kept words of inspiration close to her heart and surrounded herself with the beauty of nature. Her last book for pleasure reading was The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama, and her last outing was on the hiking trails of Stokes State Forest. And, her last act of civic duty was voting on Election Day 2020. Please join us in remembering and celebrating the exuberant life of Min Jung Kim as she takes her most sacred journey to be with our Lord and Savior and be reunited with her husband at last after eighteen years. Visitation will be at Matthew Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Inc., 2508 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY, 10314 on Friday, November 13, 2020 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am. The Funeral Service will start at 11:00 am at the same location. The Final Resting Place is at the Moravian Cemetery, 2205 Richmond Road, Staten Island, NY 10306 at 12:30 pm.