Kum Berg

Kum Berg (born Kum Suhn Cho), 94, passed away April 3, 2026 in Fremont, CA. She resided in Burbank for 40 years with her husband, Stuart Holloway Berg.

Kum was born in Korea. As a child she lived along the Tumen River bordering present day China. Her father was a rice farmer. She remembered catching minnows in the river for entertainment. As the oldest sibling, she joined her parents and uncle who moved to Manchuria for 6 years to work before returning to Korea. When she was a teenager her family moved to Incheon, South Korea. She attended Sookmyung Women's College in Seoul for two years. 

In 1951, during the Korean War she was employed as a cashier at the Pusan Air Base (K-9) post exchange where she sold Lieutenant Stuart Berg snacks to eat on his bombing sorties to North Korea. They fell in love and promised to wed. 

When Stuart was transferred to Japan, Kum smuggled her way there on a fishing boat to join him. Stuart's mother was opposed to their relationship and asked the Air Force to transfer Stuart stateside. Kum lived for 14 months in an apartment in Japan that Stuart paid for while waiting for him to return. Stuart figured out how to marry Kum legally and flew to Japan while on leave on a Canadian Air Force plane. They were married on February 18, 1953 at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

Military life took them to Washington, California, back to Japan, South Carolina, Illinois, and Florida. When Stuart was sent to Viet Nam in 1968, Kum returned to Japan with their two sons to be closer to Stuart for R&R visits and have the support of friends. Their last duty station was Hawaii and Stuart retired from the Air Force in 1970 with a final move to San Diego.

Kum was a leader. She organized and led "Korean wives clubs" for immigrant wives in military families, helping them assimilate while retaining their culture and cuisine.

She was a lifelong entrepreneur and created and operated a variety of businesses. She imported and sold Asian food in South Carolina delivering it in the family station wagon before there were Asian markets. She later sold jewelry and furs in the downtown Los Angeles Hilton Hotel.

In retirement she travelled the world with Stuart on tours to Europe, New Zealand, China, Korea and Japan. They also enjoyed taking their grandchildren Evan and Liz on road trips.

She instilled strong values of education and hard work in her sons. Both graduated from Patrick Henry High School in San Diego and the University of California.

Kum and Stuart were married for 70 years. Stuart died in Fremont, CA in 2023. 

Kum is preceded in death by her father Hyung Chang Cho of Korea in 1969, her mother Gil Bong Kim of Los Angeles in 1998, and sister OkSun Cho Bourne of Chula Vista in 2023. She is survived by brothers Scott Joe of Glendale, Stanford Cho of Los Angeles, sons Lee Berg of Palo Alto, and Ken Berg of Ashland, OR, and grandchildren Evan Berg of Seattle, WA, and Elizabeth Berg Hallam, and great-grandson Ian Hallam of Sacramento, and many nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are under the care of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, CA.