Lisa Chang Kyong Yu

Born to parents Ki Hong Kim and Byung Ok Kang in Kyung Ju, Pyung Ahn, North Korea on July 11, 1935 during Japanese occupation, Lisa comes from a family of six children, the third eldest of five sisters. During her childhood her family were rice, candle, silk and soap merchants living in Manchuria, China. Lisa grew up speaking Korean, but was forced to learn Japanese in Manchuko. After World War II when the Soviet Union took control of Northern Korea and the Korean peninsula began to split, Lisa’s family fled south like many other middle and merchant class Koreans and resided in Seoul near the Hallasan mountains. Her family eventually settled in Busan, South Korea and again established rice, candle and thread factories.

Lisa was educated at Seoul’s prestigious Sookmyung University, where she studied English and upon graduation became a teacher. She met her husband Jack C. Yu, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, after the Korean War. After they married in 1963, they moved to the United States and changed her name to Lisa, a nickname given by a visiting Swiss schoolteacher. Lisa and Jack had three children, Phillip, Susan and Jack Jr. and raised their family in Queens, NY. "Hi Lisa!" was often called out as she passed neighbors, as she was very friendly, active and well-known in Woodside, Elmhurst and Flushing. After her children were grown she spent time working as a homecare attendant for the elderly in Queens, invested in real estate, and later she used her fluency in English to help other Korean immigrants navigate NYC’s government offices and hospitals including applying for Medicaid, Food Stamps/SNAP, Medicare and Social Security, and for voting. She became so well known for advocating for Korean immigrants at Elmhurst Hospital that many staffers knew her by name. Lisa also delighted in spending time with her family, especially over a good Korean meal. She always had plenty of energy for her grandchildren Noah and Elisabeth, as well as nephews and nieces, Insook & Seon Kun Kim, Ming Shan Lee, Carlo and Victoria Cordi, and their children and grandchildren Nicholas, Sophia & Michael, Carmelena, Carlito, Tessa, and baby Elliana who shares her July 11th birthday.

Lisa is survived by sons Phillip and Jack Junior, daughter Susan and her husband Matthew Schifrin, and grandchildren Noah and Elisabeth.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York or Queens Community House https://www.qchnyc.org/, as they provided her with Homebound Meals On Wheels during her final years, and to the Queens Botanical Garden where she liked to stroll especially with her grandkids, and grandnieces and grandnephews.