Yong Ha Lee

Yong Ha Lee, 59, born on June 10, 1952, in Seoul, Korea, passed away May 19, 2012. He resided in North Hills, California at the time of his passing. Yong arrived in America to study for engineering (Northwestern in Chicago) in 1977, and met and married his wife Younghee in 1982. They had their first child, Hannah, in 1983 and their second child, Joseph, in 1985. Yong and his family lived in Southern California until they moved to New Mexico and Maryland for a few years. In 1990, they returned to Los Angeles and have lived there since. Yong Ha worked for NASA, JPL, and other companies in the aerospace engineering industry for about 10 years and afterwards, operated a small self-owned business for a number of years. After surviving a car accident in 2005, Yong sustained extremely painful internal injuries and retired early, spending his final years at home with his wife.

He was an inventor and an avid fan of classical music. At his memorial service on May 25, 2012, the song he had previously requested be played at his funeral someday was the Pilgrim's Chorus from Tanhauser by Richard Wagner.

An excerpt from the eulogy given by his daughter Hannah:
"My father has always been a passionate, creative, intelligent, and deeply thoughtful individual. The youngest of 8 siblings, my father was very fond of young children and the elderly, showing kindness to those who are vulnerable, needy, and poor. He had a sharp, witty, and sometimes silly, sometimes dry sense of humor, and a wonderful talent for cooking various types of dishes. When he was feeling well, he was often the life of the party and lead lively discussions at small gatherings with friends. While he was very traditional as a Korean man, he held deep values for justice, respect, dignity, compassion, integrity, and loyalty. He certainly struggled with the intense bouts of physical pain of his injuries after the car accident, but through it all, he never stopped loving and serving our family in the best way he knew how to.

Though this passing felt unexpected and sudden, in some ways, it wasn't a surprise. In his last e-mail to us, he communicated to us that he felt that his time was coming soon, and to the end, even if there were things left unsaid, his love for us never changed. He certainly had his weaknesses and I always felt he was misunderstood, but considering how much love he did not receive growing up, he was so, so, so loving, affectionate, and always hopeful that things would get better…and though it didn't happen the way we hoped, with his migraines being healed, with him watching both Joe and me start families and careers, and with our family coming together and being able to live and be together more peacefully, things are still better in some ways.

As his funeral song of choice, The Pilgrim's Chorus, shows, Appa has now joined the cloud of witnesses, and he's no longer in pain and no longer in bondage to the brokenness and sin of this world. We will miss him very much, but his legacy of loving others through good food, bad jokes, creative thinking, and generous living will live on through us.

Appa, saranghaeyo. Dashee bolddaeggahjee, jal gae saeyo, yulshimhee sal kkaeyo."

**Donations and love offerings are being used to cover funeral costs.
If you would like to, please send cash or check to:
Younghee Lee
16744 Septo Street
North Hills, CA 91343

Thank you for your friendship, prayers, support, and love.