Obituary of Jong Soon Lee

OBITUARY OF JONG SOON LEE

Born on September 18, 1938 in Yeoncheon-gu, South Korea, Jong Soon Lee, aka “Joan” passed away the morning of July 8, 2024 at the age of 85, from complications of cancer.

Her education interrupted by two (2) wars, the end of World War II and the three years of the Korean War (1950-53), she learned the skills of a hairstylist from her Aunt, from the age of 15.  By her early 20s, she opened her own beauty salon in Seoul, South Korea in the early 1960s going on to employ 10 hairstylists at her salon by the early 1970s.

Emigrating to the United States in 1972, she worked briefly in a garment factory in Brooklyn, NY before owning a wig store in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.  Her wig shop was popular with customers as they could have their wigs cut and styled to their liking, by a professional hairstylist rather than just wear a standard wig.  She moved to Staten Island in 1974 and would later go onto run other businesses, before resuming her career as a hairstylist at Mario’s UNISEX in Staten Island in 1985. She was a popular hairstylist and co-worker there until early 2024.  She was also a member of the Korean Catholic Apostolate of Staten Island.

A devoted and selfless mother, who raised a son and daughter while working full-time, she was the definition of “super mom” before the concept gained popular media coverage.  She leaves behind her husband Chung S. Lee, the former owner of Clove Lakes Liquor in Staten Island, NY, and her adult children, as well as three (3) sisters and a brother and their family members in South Korea.