07/14/2024
Won Ho âAndrewâ Lee of Chicago, Illinois passed away on July 8, 2024 at the age of 93.
Andrew was born to the late Duek-Geun Lee and late Sook-Ok Jang on March 27, 1931 in Cholsan, North Pyongan Province, in what is now part of North Korea. After finishing high school in Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province, he left for Seoul to attend Seoul National University in the Spring of 1950. The occasion was celebrated with much fanfare in his small town to have someone go to a prestigious school in the Capital City. However, the jubilation was short-lived as the Korean War broke out within 3 months on June 25th and all schools were shut down for the duration of the 3-year war.
During this time away from school, he joined the South Korean Army as a liaison interpreter, putting into use his language skills to work alongside the Allied Forces. This was the first time he tasted corn beef hash and apple pie ala mode at the US Army mess hall. This was a tremendous treat for a young South Korean soldier at the time when much of the country was starving as the war ripped through the land. To his last days, they remained two of his most favorite things to eat. They were comfort food for him.
Soon after the war broke out, his parents and his 4 younger siblings fled North Korea along with millions of refugees and headed south. Unfortunately, Andrewâs father was killed during the escape. Soon after the war armistice in July 1953, Andrew was able reunite with his mother and siblings in South Korea.
When schools reopened, he returned to receive his masterâs degree in political science. He continued to serve as a commissioned interpreter officer liaising with the UN forces, during the post war period. After his discharge in 1962, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a South Korean equivalent of our U.S. State Department. In 1964, as a young diplomat, his first assignment was South Vietnam, a soon to be war-torn nation. After various foreign posts, including India, Japan, Pakistan, U.S., and Italy, he served his final foreign post in Ottawa, Canada. After returning to South Korea in 1989, he continued to serve as a foreign affairs advisor to the Blue House, a South Korean equivalent of our White House. He finally concluded his service in 1992, after serving his motherland for more than 40 years. In his retirement, he continued to work as a lecturer at a local college in Seoul.
In 2006, Andrew immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Tacoma, Washington. In 2011, he moved to Chicago and in the following year, on Independence Day, Andrew became a U.S. Citizen. As much as he had dedicated all his working life to his motherland, he was extremely proud to become a U.S. Citizen and voted in every election since. Andrew was a voracious reader who would spend 7-8 hours a day at the Harold Washington Library in downtown scouring through every possible newspaper. The staff would know him by first name, and he would often go out to lunch with them.
A long-time Buddhist, he converted to Catholicism in 1981 while serving in Rome.
Andrew was preceded in death by his 2 younger brothers, Joong-ho and Byung-ho. He is survived by his wife Hwa Young âMonicaâ, sisters Jung-soon and Jung-hee, son and wife John and Elissa, daughter Helen, granddaughter and husband Samantha and Stephen, grandson and fiancĂ© Brian and Ashley, granddaughter Michaela and great grandson Oliver Taewoo âOllieâ.
He was a man of integrity and treated everyone he met in his journey through life with utmost kindness and respect. He will be missed immensely.
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