Jong Kook Song

Jong Kook Song, educator, soldier, businessman, entrepreneur, philosopher, and patriarch of this Song family, passed away on Sunday, April 19, 2020, after battling COVID-19 for nearly three weeks.

He was born October 1928 and would have turned 94 years old this month.

He was born in Pyongyang, Korea, where he graduated from High School in 1945 and became an Elementary School teacher. In 1946, after the end of World War II, and the start of communist occupation of what would become North Korea, he and his family fled south and settled in Seoul. There, he studied at Seung Kyun Kwan University for three years until North Korean troops invaded the south in 1950 and he was drafted in the Korean Army. In the army, he was attached to the Seventh US Infantry Division, as part of the Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) and that same year, his unit joined the noteworthy Incheon Landing which led to the recapture of Seoul. And during the next 2 1/2 years his unit saw much combat including Chosin Reservoir, Iron Triangle, and Heart Break Ridge. After the Korean War he continued his service, and from 1955 to 1958, he served as Liaison Officer between the Korean Army and the 8th US Army. He completed active duty as an Army Captain.

He met his wife, Dae Kyun, while she was attending college, fell in love and married in 1956. They had three children, Karen, James, & Darryl, between 1957 and 1961. In 1964, Jong Kook and Dae Kyun came to the World's Fair in New York as members of the Korean delegation at the Korea Pavilion and stayed to make New York and the United States of America their new home. Their fourth child, Eugene was born an American and New Yorker, in 1965. After becoming a Naturalized Citizen in 1973, Jong Kook worked tirelessly to help his brothers and their families immigrate to the US and become citizens.

He was a businessman and entrepreneur. In Jackson Heights, Jong Kook and his wife Dae Kyun opened one of the first Korean markets and served a small but growing Korean American community. In Flushing NY, he was a grocery shop owner, a real estate agent, and a bridal shop owner. He also served as Vice President of the Flushing Merchants Association.

Jong Kook was a thriver. He suffered many losses. He lost his wife, Dae Kyun, who died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. He lost his youngest brother, Dong Kook, who died when a car crashed into him while sitting in a parked car. He lost his eldest son, James, to pancreatic cancer. But Jong Kook did not just survive his personal losses. Just as he thrived and started a new life in Seoul after fleeing the communists in North Korea, he thrived and continued to lead and inspire his ever-growing family of nieces, nephews, sons in law, daughters in law, and grandchildren. And in 1980, he met and fell in love with his second wife Rita, a woman's wear designer. In 1981, they were blessed with the birth of his fifth child, Jonathan.

Jong Kook was also a philosopher, an historian, and avid reader prone to quote Oscar Wilde. To his family, he was all those things; but mostly he was the patriarch of this Song family. To this family he will always be father, big brother, big uncle (keun appa), or big father (keun aboeji).

On Saturday, October 22, 2022, between 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM, his family and friends will gather to remember this remarkable man at Pine Lawn Cemetery, 2030 Wellwood Ave, Farmingdale NY.

In Pine Lawn Cemetery, we will gather at Block 9 - Section 31, near the corner of Greenlawn Ave and Circle B. Enter the cemetery at the main entrance and drive straight on William H Locke Dr then bear right at the fork on to Greenlawn Ave.

In remembrance of Jong Kook Song's life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to the Korean War Veterans Association (kwva.us) or

The Salvation Army COVID-19 Response (salvationarmyusa.org/usn/covid19/)

"In Memory of Jong Kook Song"