Ben Hui Chong Yoo
May 20, 1944 — April 21, 2019
Ben Hui Chong Yoo, 74, of Hartsdale, New York died on April 21, 2019, after battling duodenal cancer. He was born on May 20, 1944 in the City of Kang Suh, near Pyongyang, in North Korea, to parents, Kyung Yong Yoo and Sung Sil Kim. At age 6, he and his older sister, Gil Ja, followed his parents to South Korea during the Korean War in 1950. He grew up in Seoul and graduated from Konkuk University with a degree in Philosophy. In 1965, Ben met Helen, and three years later, married her, who would later become his loving wife of 51 years. Ben worked for a small credit company for 15 years, but on April 15, 1984, he immigrated to the U.S. to start a new life with his wife and two sons. The family settled in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx.
Upon arrival, Ben learned to fix shoes from a fellow Korean churchgoer, also a shoemaker. Soon after, he acquired a small shoe repair shop in the Inwood section of Manhattan and operated the business for more than two decades.
Ben's priority was his family. Always. He devoted his life to providing stability and happiness to them. A devoted son and brother, Ben would telephone nearly weekly his two sisters and mother, whom he left behind in Seoul, all to partake in their lives from afar because he'd missed them dearly. Toward that end, Ben worked tirelessly while never losing his sight on improving his English, a new language, and learning the culture and values of his new home.
Ben loved his new country, particularly the abundance of majestic natural beauty that it possessed. In retirement, he became a volunteer with the Westchester Trail Association. Ben enjoyed driving, be it a long or short distance. Also, in the car would be just his wife or, at times, as many church friends as he can pack in his station wagon or minivan. Ben and Helen have driven cross country six times in the U.S., vising all 50 states except Hawaii and Alaska. Ben's favorite parks were the Redwood National Park in California and Big Bend National Park in Texas. As his granddaughter, Claire, wrote recently:
"He loves this country," my dad said. "He loves driving around. He loves meeting new people. Sometimes he sleeps in his car in a trailer park, or camps in a campground, or stays in small motels in very, very small towns." There's no one else I know that appreciates this country, for all of its beauties and imperfections, more than my grandfather. There's no one else I know that takes advantage of what America has to offer more than my grandfather. My grandfather, who was born in Pyongyang and ended up as a shoe repairman in the Bronx, who bought my dad beer on his 16th birthday and supported my uncle through everything, who keeps up to date with the latest American whodunnit mystery novels by reading them in translated Korean, who enjoys eating Chipotle burritos and watching the Yankees every night during baseball season and hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains, is the best American I know. I am the product of a Korean-American double immigration progression, a typical immigrant success story. But more than that, I am the product of my grandfather's encouraging spirit, of his contagious smile, his American Dream, a beautiful lucid dream that started in North Korea and continues today in a minivan.
Ben is survived by his wife, Helen, son, Sam, and wife, Michelle, of Closter, NJ; son, Charles, and husband, John, of Woodside, Queens, NY, and three grandchildren, Claire, Corey and Kevin. He is survived by his two sisters, Joo Hee, and Gil Ja, in Seoul, Korea.
The family requests in lieu of flowers that memorial contributions be made to the Westchester Trails Association.
Westchester Trails Association
P.O. Box 736
White Plains, NY 10602
http://www.westhike.org/
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