Lucille was born in Maui, the Island of the Valley. She was the second of four children born to Henry (Chong Kwan) and Harriet (nee Hew) Chun. Although only five years old when the family moved to Oahu, she never forgot the experience of sailing for several days between the two islands with all their belongings.
Growing up on the family farm required long hours of hard work from the whole family; only partially offset by voracious reading shared amongst the siblings. The cultivation of literature during these formative years laid the foundation for an exceptional mind, which was also influenced by her mother’s quiet resolve and her father’s knack for innovation. According to Lucille, her father never ceased to marvel at the access to knowledge a library provided, thus further instilling the mindset that she had the resources to figure anything out.
As a high school junior at Hawaiian Mission Academy, Lucille apparently decided that her classmate, Harry, was the love of her life. She was the brainiac and he was a jock. She introduced him to studying in the library; he taught her how to play poker. She loved to quote poetry and he loved to sing. Their fondest memories were the two years they dated in Oahu and worked hard to earn money for college. Together, they ventured from Hawaii to Walla Walla, WA. for college where Lucille, as usual, breezed through her academics, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and subsequently her law degree from Northwestern School of Law.
Lucille worked tirelessly and with great fortitude her entire life. How she found time to sleep was always a mystery as she not only supported her husband through medical school, set up his practice, organized all his activities, managed the finances, and raised six children. A typical day for many years included: Working, driving her kids back and forth to school, music/sport lessons, or field trips, then staying up late at night sewing clothes for her daughters, cooking/cleaning, taking care of all the family pets, planning family vacations, and attending Blazer games. After her retirement, she and Harry attempted to settle down in Hawaii but neither were content with life in the slow lane. Anyone who spent time with her came to appreciate her penchant for poetry (don’t all mothers randomly quote poems?), her grasp of the complex as well as the mundane (she always had an answer to any question), and her ability to whip up the most scrumptious meals faster than anyone else (we won’t talk about the mess left in the kitchen). Although she travelled the world over and was accomplished in numerous endeavors, she was most content when settled down to read a good book throughout the night, a consummate habit acquired in childhood.
The true measure of Lucille’s grit and spirit became evident after a stroke in 2011 greatly debilitated her physically and the legal system attempted to eradicate her identity and legal documents. The concept of futility was antithetical to her and the inspiration to valiantly battle back the past seven years was largely based on the desire to demonstrate that she knew what had occurred and who would be held accountable someday. She never ceased in praying that the passage of time would heal all grievances and expected nothing less than one hundred percent from everyone included in her prayers. During this time and until the end, she was bolstered and blessed with a circle of genuine friends and family who unfailingly reached out and encouraged her.
In the past month, she had battled pneumonia and unexpectedly but peacefully succumbed in the hospital with her family by her side. Maybe the Blazers being swept in the first round was just too much. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harry, in 2014. She is survived by her three siblings; Lorna, Phile, and Diana; her children; Dennis (Melissa), Dianne (Jeff), Doreen (Robert), Delanne, Douglas (Elizabeth), Darres; grandchildren; Talia, Samara, and Jacob; nieces and nephews.
At her request, there will be no service. But if you knew her, you would know that even in death doing nothing was not an option for Lucille; that speaking up is important even when the outcome is uncertain. Therefore, she would be pleased if anyone would consider supporting in any way: the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and/or the Friends of the Columbia Gorge. We leave you with one of her favorite poems:
Crossing the Bar
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
Harry's Obituary, Published in June 2014
M.D., Harry C. S. Park, 84 Sept. 17, 1929 June 10, 2014 Harry was born in Honolulu to Yoon Cho Park and Kum Sun Kim. He was the youngest of six children and spent his formative years in Honolulu and Korea.
In high school at Hawaiian Mission Academy, he met his future wife, Lucille, and together they left paradise to attend and complete their degrees at Walla Walla College. On July 13, 1952, Harry and Lucille were married in Portland. Their first two children were born while he completed medical school and residencies.
While making plans to open his first practice in the Seattle area, he heard that a small town just north of Vancouver was seeking a doctor. Ridgefield, Wash., welcomed the family warmly and the roots of a 40-year career in Clark County were planted alongside numerous friendships. In 1967, the family, including four more children, moved to Meadow Glade, Wash. Harry's practice shifted from the Ridgefield and Yacolt area to Battle Ground and Hazel Dell, Wash. As a solo practitioner, he was always "on call." For patients who became ill after office hours, he made home visits with his black bag, treated them in his own residence or roared off on his Harley Davidson to deliver newborns in the hospital. It was not unusual for Harry to begin his day at the hospital performing a tonsillectomy, hernia repair, or tubal ligation, check on patients at a nursing home during lunch, end a full day in the office with a vasectomy procedure, then play basketball with his Medics team or attend a Trail Blazers game. Most meaningful to Harry though, was the opportunity to use his job as a springboard to minister; invariably vexing his staff with extended patient chats and not staying on schedule.
An unbending policy of providing free care to leaders of any faith (reverends, monks, pastors) was an extension of his belief that carrying out God's work rendered its own rewards. Throughout his life, Harry was a force of nature. He was a natural athlete who excelled in numerous sports with a competitive streak. Musicality flowed out of him like water from a spring and he thrived in being unconventional. You always knew where you stood with him as well as the expectation to be equally driven. Harry was generous to a fault, to every panhandler or person who presented in need. Even when his health started failing over a decade ago, he remained confident in his ability to impact the world. Although Harry was firmly entrenched in the belief that a person should go down swinging, he passed away peacefully in the early hours of a beautiful June day with a son by his side.
To the very end, his faith in God never wavered. A few days before his heart, liver and kidneys failed, he responded to his daughter saying, "Don't worry. God's going to take care of everything."
He is survived by his wife of nearly 62 years, Lucille; brother, Bill; children, Dennis (Melissa), Dianne (Jeff), Doreen (Robert), Delanne, Douglas (Elizabeth) and Darres; grandchildren, Talia, Samara, Jacob and Brittnay; nieces; nephews; and in-laws. Harry did not wish to have a service. However, longtime family friend, Dorothy Kuehnel, is planning a celebration of life at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13, 2014, at the Red Lion at the Quay. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Meadow Glade Seventh-day Adventist Church or Meadow Glade Seventh-day Adventist Cowboy Church, Attn: Shirley Romig, 8102 N.E. 179th St., Battle Ground, WA 98604.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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