Hong Kyu Lim

Hong Kyu Lim was born in Seoul, Korea on May 16th, 1941 and passed away peacefully from complications related to a life-long lung disease on April 28th, 2021 in Houston, Texas. Mr. Lim was just 18 days shy of his 80th birthday. He is survived by his loving wife of more than 50 years, Hye Won Lim, and his devoted son, Jae Hyun Lim.

Mr. Lim earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea in 1964 with the intent of becoming a high school teacher. However, he spent most of his life, both in Korea and later in the US, as a small business owner. While his own mother was a devoted Christian, Mr. Lim only later became baptized in life in his early 50s. He also became a US citizen in his early 60s.

Mr. Lim led an extraordinary life:

He was born in Japan occupied Korea and at age 1 developed the lung disease which would haunt him for life. As an infant, he passed away 7 times from illness, only to start breathing again. He was resilient from the beginning.

At age 9, during the Korean War, he walked with his mother and his 6 siblings, 200 miles from Seoul to Busan to escape the communists from the North. During the journey, his youngest sister died, and he and his two older brothers had to bury her because his mother was too heartbroken to do so.

During his 20s, he graduated from college and started his adulthood during a period where economic opportunities were scarce in Korea. He married at 29, soon had his child and determined to find a better life by immigrating to the US.

At age 39, he moved his family to the US (eventually Houston) without knowing English and not fully knowing how he would support the family.

And for the last 40 years, he was a devoted husband to his wife and kind father to his son. He never once complained about his luck in life with his disease and worked hard every day to be a good Christian, husband, father and friend.

Hong Kyu Lim exemplified integrity and persistence in the journey of life. May his soul rest in peace with our Heavenly Father.