Kum Jee Kim (1931—2025)

Kum Jee Kim, 94, resident of Sierra Madre, California, passed away peacefully on May 19, 2025.

Kum Jee Choo was born in Daegu, South Korea to Byungwhan Choo (father) and Dalsue Suh (mother). After the Korean War, she emigrated to the United States to attend college in Texas, where she studied at Our Lady of the Lake college (San Antonio) and the University of Texas (Austin), earning a Master’s Degree at the latter. She met her husband, Hajin Kim, in Boston and together they raised four children — Stephen, Michael, Carole, and Julie — while living in Boston, Massachusetts, Wappingers Falls, New York, and Yorktown, New York. Before moving to southern California in 2022, they lived in retirement in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for about 25 years.

Wherever she lived, Kum Jee was always actively engaged in her community, taking part in book clubs, Catholic church choir, bridge clubs, and the golfing community. She had a passion for learning and teaching (including honing her Japanese language skills to teach English as a second language to Japanese students). She loved to read, write, travel, attend live performances (lectures, concerts, theater, opera), hit the dance floor (especially with a live band), and spend time with her children and their families. She cherished holiday and vacation family gatherings, especially given the family’s geographic diversity. She was always outgoing, vivacious, and loved most of all to talk and socialize with everyone around her. Her boisterous laugh was highly infectious.

Kum Jee is survived by Hajin, her husband of over 65 years; her brother Chai Yang Choo; her son Stephen (wife Dee Dee Sheedy Kim, children Christian and Madeleine); her son Michael (wife Kelly Brilliant, children Nathaniel and Kaori); her daughter Carole (partner Adam Rosenkranz and child Eli); and her daughter Julie (husband George Johnson).

Kum Jee’s family is immensely grateful to the entire care community at The Kensington Sierra Madre Senior Living. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the Snow Approach Foundation, Inc. (snowapproach.org) a non-profit organization led by dementia care specialist Teepa Snow and the Positive Approach to Care (PAC) team based in North Carolina (teepasnow.com) and the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) Prevention and Research Center (https://thewomensalzheimersmo…) at the Cleveland Clinic.

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