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In memory of
Minkyu Lee
October 6, 1963 - December 15, 2020
Oct 6, 1963 - Dec 15, 2020
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Minkyu's obituary
Minkyu was born on October 6, 1963 to father, Lee Tae-Hyung, and mother, Nam Ok-Soon, in Daejeon, South Korea. He grew up in Daejeon and graduated from Choong-Nam High School in 1982. He graduated Seoul National University Class of 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Minkyu then returned to Daejeon where he earned his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from KAIST University in 1988. He then served his Korean military service at ETRI from 1988 to 1991. There he met and married the woman of his dreams, Sooha Lee, on September 9, 1990. He pursued her for some time by constantly serenading her outside of her apartment and waiting for her after work, before she finally accepted him. He had his first daughter, Seungyeon in 1991 and the following year, Minkyu moved to Gainesville, Florida with his wife and eight-month old daughter to obtain his Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at the University of Florida. In 1994, they moved to Lawrenceville, New Jersey and a year later, to Yardley, Pennsylvania in order to be closer to the University of Pennsylvania, where his wife earned her Ph.D.
In 2001, Minkyu and his family, which now included his second daughter, Kathleen, moved into their forever house in Ringoes, New Jersey. He started his long tenure at Lucent Technologies Bell Laboratories where he experienced and accomplished much, including a key highlight of his work life when he attended and received the 48th technical Grammy Award by the Recording Academy in 2006, which he enjoyed saying he had no part in securing. While living in Ringoes, he would see his first daughter graduate from The Hun School of Princeton and earn her own Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His younger daughter would also graduate from Hunterdon Central High School and matriculate at Columbia University, where she is a golf student-athlete. Kathleen will graduate April 2021. In 2008, Minkyu started his own business with his wife called Advanced Media Research (AMR), a U.S. Government Department of Defense contractor. He started another company in 2010 called Navitas Solutions with several of his close friends, serving as CTO - Chief Software Engineer. This company grew to have not one but two offices, the second being in Seoul, South Korea. In 2020, Minkyu had the pleasure of joining and working at Mayflower Communications. Throughout his professional career, he authored countless white papers and holds several patents, both too numerous to list.
Minkyu enjoyed golfing, both playing and watching, and volunteered much of his time and energy to the Korean Community Center in the Greater Princeton Area (KCCP), which he helped found and was an integral member. He loved spending time with his family and friends; he definitely knew how to work hard and play harder. Music was also a passion of his for most of his life. He played the guitar when he was younger, honed his two daughters’ piano and violin skills, and relished listening to good music whenever possible. This is true for almost anything that carries a tune, whether it be an obnoxiously cute alarm clock tune, the ballet or opera, ABBA and Queen, the birds chirping outside his window, or the happy jingle that his Samsung washer plays when it’s finished a cycle. The last of which he disabled after it started playing its last note off-tune. His latest favorite pastime was watching Korea’s favorite son, Son Heung-Min, play soccer for the Tottenham Hotspurs and the Korean National Football team. He was an attentive son and brother; a loving husband; a dedicated father; a founding member of KCCP, where he served in various roles including President and board member starting 2007; and a member of the Korean American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA).
Minkyu loved teaching, mentoring, and guiding the younger generations in matters of math, science, and all things nerdy, including Star Wars and Indiana Jones. He would get hooked on any game or puzzle set very easily but, especially those that required brains and logic. Some of his favorite games were Othello, 2048 (he made it to 8192 before moving on), billiards, the Rubix cube, and Tetris. He hated asking for directions, so before smartphones but during the days of MapQuest and even with the younger generation Garmin GPS’s, he’d get “lost” whenever he went somewhere new; although he did have an amazing sense of direction so he’d never admit he was lost, simply saying that “all roads are connected” and that he was never lost. Minkyu loved the idea of minimalistic living and swore by Marie Kondo before it became widely known. However, he had a hard time throwing things out if they still functioned properly, especially a tv that’s older than his firstborn daughter. It finally threw in the towel and gave the “blue screen of death” a few years ago and he caved in, bringing the newer 50” flat screen up from the basement.
Minkyu is survived by his father, Lee Tae-Hyung; his mother, Nam Ok-Soon; his mother-in-law, Kim Chung-Ja; his wife, Lee née Park Soo-Ha; his two children, Seung-Yeon “Yeoni”/ “Stacey” Lee and Kathleen “Katie” Ji-Yeon; his younger sister, Lee Yeong-Kyu, brother-in-law, Kim Sang-Gook, nephew, Kim Do-Hoon, and niece, Kim Ju-Young; his younger brother, Lee Won-Kyu, sister-in-law, Choi Mee-Chul, and niece, Lee Jung-Yeon; and his daughter’s pet gecko lizard, Choco.
Minkyu was smart, loyal, funny, sincere, and respectful. One would think, upon first meeting him, that he’s the shy, quiet, and stoic type, but he was quite the opposite. When a topic is broached, he’d know all there is to know or at least have heard of some obscure tidbit of knowledge to share. On the rare occasion he didn’t know something, he was never afraid to ask a million and one questions. He had the best sense of humor and getting a laugh or even smile out of him was a treasured jewel in itself. He accomplished so much in his short lifetime but never settled on his laurels, instead constantly chasing a newer, more harder-to-attain goal. His main and constant burden was keeping his three girls happy and safe, which he continues to do, even after death.
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In lieu of flowers
Please consider a donation to Support Lee Family.
$5,940.00
total raised
Recent contributions
Recent contributions
In lieu of flowers
Please consider a donation to Support Lee Family.
$5,940.00
total raised
Recent contributions
Recent contributions
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Created with love by
Yeoni Lee (Minkyu's daughter).
