February 1, 1948 – September 19, 2021
Young Ok Kim, age 73, died peacefully at her home in Palo Alto, surrounded by her family on Sunday, September 19th, 2021.
Young Ok Lee was born on February 1st, 1948, in Seoul, Korea, youngest daughter of the late Il Koo Lee and Myoung Ae Suk. She graduated from the Ewha Women’s University, with a degree in microbiology. Many important life events happened to her in 1973: she immigrated to the US, met her future husband Paul HuiKun Kim, and married him in September of that year. She completed a Master’s degree at San Jose State in microbiology, and worked as a microbiologist at Alza for many years.
She had an adventurous spirit, and loved to travel. She was also an amazing cook, and loved to feed a crowd in her home. She was kind and generous, known for sending flowers to the nurses who cared for her in the hospital.
She is survived by her husband Paul; daughter Karen Kim (of Ithaca, NY), son John Kim (also of Ithaca, NY); grandchildren Nicholas and Maxwell Hernandez (of Ithaca, NY); siblings Young Soon Lee (of Seoul, Korea), Young Ja Yum (of Los Altos, CA), and Young Hwan Lee (of Sunnyvale, CA).
Young was adamant about not wanting a funeral. Instead, a Celebration of Young Ok’s
life will be held on Sunday, October 17th, at 2 pm, at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church (4435 Fortran Drive, San Jose, 95134). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the CPMC Foundation Giving Fund (CPMC.org/giving) or to the American Liver Foundation (https://liverfoundation.org/for-patients/donate-now/).