YOUNGJA HWANG

1946 - 2022

HWANG, Youngja Life of Joy and Courage Youngja Hwang, 75, passed away peacefully at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 21, 2022, after a courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease. Youngja was born on May 9, 1946, to Tae Kyung Hwang and Suknam Hahn in Sang-dong, South Korea. At the age of four, she survived the Korean War and relocated with her family to Seoul. There, she grew up in the neighborhood of Hyoja-dong before graduating from the Catholic University of Korea and starting her career as a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital. In 1970, she left Seoul for New York City, where she was promoted to assistant head nurse at the Peninsular Hospital Center. She earned a Master's in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976. She then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she served as a community nurse for the Boston Department of Health and Human Services. After a decade of service in nursing, Youngja decided to retrain in a field that she believed would transform society: computer programming. She enrolled in night classes at the University of Lowell and joined the technology company Digital as a software engineer in 1984. She felt at home in Digital's corporate culture, whose mantra - "Do the Right Thing" - echoed her work ethic. Youngja later joined the software company Intersystems, building electronic information systems for major hospitals. When Youngja achieved her U.S. citizenship, she received a letter of congratulations from then-Congressman Ed Markey. In 1985, Youngja married fellow Korean American Yong Wha Nam. They first met as graduate students at UNC and reconnected years later in Boston. In keeping with Korean tradition and her feminist values, Youngja kept her family name. After their wedding, Youngja joined her husband and stepdaughter Marie Mihae Nam in North Andover, Massachusetts. Youngja and Yong welcomed a daughter Alice Haelyun Nam in 1989. Youngja was a devoted caregiver to her husband through a brave fight with liver cancer that took his life in 2000. Youngja embraced the hippie ethos of the 70's well into her later years. She shopped at Trader Joe's and logged thousands of miles on her vintage road bike. In other ways, Youngja's tastes reflected her classical education in Eastern and Western traditions. She was a patron of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, practiced Chinese calligraphy, and never missed a match of a Grand Slam tennis tournament. In 2011, Youngja cheered as her daughter Alice graduated from Stanford University. The same year, she came to terms with the painful diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. She returned to Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she found freedom in letting go. She embraced the joys of everyday life with Hitch, her precocious Maltese. Her caregiver Charity Majuru became her friend and companion in her final years. Were it not for Alzheimer's, Youngja had wished to become a historian in retirement. During her lifetime, her homeland of South Korea rose from an unrecognized UN territory to the 10th largest economy in the world. She celebrated as the Civil Rights Movement opened doors for women and Asian Americans, seizing the opportunity to build a career at the vanguard of the Digital Revolution. She felt blessed to have lived through an era of progress across both continents. These triumphs did not come without costs - the trauma of war, the trials of the immigrant experience, and the loss of loved ones. Yet, Youngja's petite frame belied an enormous heart. She insisted on the importance of unconditional love for family and friends. She dedicated herself to the healing arts of meditation and Tai Chi. She was a devoted Catholic with an unshakable trust in the will of God. Youngja is reunited with her husband, parents, and friends who passed before her. She is survived by her daughter Alice Haelyun Nam; and son-in-law Timothy Alan Jones; as well as her stepdaughter Marie Nam Menke; and stepson-in-law Nathan Menke. She is also survived by her brothers and sisters, Penny Kim, John Whang, Doug Hwang, Young-reem Hwang, and Sarah Hwang.

View the online memorial for Youngja HWANG