Sung Won Juhn Park

Sung Won Juhn Park was born on Dec. 8, 1940 in Suwon, South Korea. She was the fifth child of thirteen children, born to parents Ho Yun Juhn and Kyu Joo Kim. She had eight brothers and four sisters, and her childhood was filled with family joys centered around a deep Christian faith. She grew up in Daegu, her father was a physician, they lived on an orchard, and her mother filled each of her children’s lunch bag with scripture. She excelled in school, sang in the church choir, and attended Ehwa University for Women, in Seoul, majoring in Pharmcology. She first met her future husband Han S. Park in high school, and eventually they got engaged in Seoul after college.

She went to the U.S. in 1965 at age 24, and she married Han S. Park at First Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. She postponed her graduate studies to work at a lab in George Washington Hospital to support her husband as he pursued his Masters Degree at American University. In 1967 their daughter Clara Jooyoung was born.

In the U.S., she was known to friends and colleagues as Wonie. From 1967-1970, she and Han and baby Clara went to Minnesota where she continued working in a hospital lab while Han got his Ph.D in Political Science at the University of Minnesota.

In 1970, the family moved to Athens, GA where Han started his career as a professor and Wonie gave birth to their son Kenneth Jaihyoun. She loved being a full time mother and supportive faculty wife, as they built their lives in Athens. In 1976, their third child Sharon Wonyoung was born. During this time, Wonie was busy raising their three children, making lifelong friendships, immersing herself in American Southern culture, as Han also grew increasingly busy with his career and travels to the Far East. Her days were filled with taking her children to numerous music and sports activities, being a cub scout den mother, hosting UGA students and colleagues, sewing Clara’s performance clothes, learning how to macrame, watercolor, make baklava, be a landlord, garden, and cook multiple cuisines. She and Han were also involved in starting a Korean church in Athens, which became the Athens Korean Presbyterian Church.

As someone who always valued learning and education, Wonie pursued and received her Masters Degree in Public Health at UGA, while balancing life with three young children and a busy husband. During this time, Han began traveling extensively to China and North Korea (totalling over sixty trips), so Wonie singlehandedly took over maintaining a stable and thriving home life for her children. She believed deeply in Han’s work and his ambitious career goals, instilling in her children that his achievement is a family achievement. She believed in their original pledge to each other when they married: One plus One equals ONE.

When their youngest child Sharon was in middle school, Wonie decided to start working at the UGA Library, to support her lifelong love of books. She started in Cataloguing, and then moved to Social Sciences. She loved every day of her job there, surrounded by books, and finally retired after a twenty year career in the library. She made many meaningful friends there and treasured this time being a working woman, following her interests, and seeking knowledge. Her day was not complete if she did not take a daily walk outside. She stashed walking shoes in her desk drawer and always walked downtown or to Han’s office on her lunch breaks.

Throughout her life, her deep faith was at the center of everything she did. For her, nothing was impossible if you worked hard and did everything with a whole and faithful heart. Where there is will, God would find a way. She was a consummate journaler, a voracious reader, and studied great writers in depth. She was always humming hymns from her childhood church choir days, possessing a beautiful voice that loved to sing, particularly Karaoke with Han. During her numerous times to Italy for the Globis Study Abroad programs, she became deeply moved by the mysticism of the Catholic Church. She began singing in the choir at the UGA Catholic Center and decided to join the church in her late sixties. She threw her heart into everything she did, and she loved to give. She would tell her children to live life like someone who was given extra love to give. Wonie never missed a single game, recital, school event or graduation for her children, showing extra joy and enthusiasm since Han could not often be there, so her children would never feel lack. When her grandchildren Maya and Nathan were born, she was ecstatic, making sure they were the best dressed and most doted on.

Wonie was known for her warmth, laughter, and a mischievous wit. At work she was nicknamed “the Wonster”, appreciating the lightness and the humor in things. She was the light and the quiet heart of the family, always the joymaker. Wonie also possessed a deep intuition, wisdom, and awareness. During the first fearful signs of her illness, she leaned more deeply than ever into her faith and her love for her family. Even after losing her ability to speak or think clearly, she was still lucidly present during Han’s video lectures or Clara’s recitals, always beaming with knowing pride. She perservered through her illness for fifteen years, instinctively knowing that Han needed her nearby to finish the work he needed to do. Wonie lived her life feeling grateful and blessed for everything she had, embracing all the stages in her life with courage and grace.

Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 364-8484. Please sign the guestbook at www.thomaspoteet.com