Page created by: The Noah Family

Mary Noah passed away peacefully on August 19, 2016, at the age of 80.

Mary was born in 1936, in the small coastal village of Book-Chung, near the city of Hamhung, which is located in the eastern seaside of North Korea. At the age of 10, a few years prior to the Korean War, she and her family left everything behind at home to escape communism and undertook a perilous journey to head down to South Korea. As a young student, she excelled academically. She dreamed about becoming a lawyer, but she didn't have the opportunity to go to college because her family was poor.

Mary met and married Joseph Noah in May 1960, and raised three children. In 1973, she and the family immigrated to the United States, first to Chicago and then to Los Angeles. She was the first Korean woman to pass the Illinois real estate license exam. Though Mary's career choices were limited due to lack of a college education, she was willing to do anything to support her family. She ran a convenience store, a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream franchise, a Mexican restaurant, a toy store, and a music store in LA that specialized in rap music when it started to become very popular in the 1990's.

Mary was deeply religious and caring to all. She was a kind and gentle mother, loving and devoted wife, and faithful friend to many. Mary always put others' needs before her own.

Mary was preceded in death by her youngest sister, Jeung-Ja Lee. She is survived by her husband and three children: Sera, Emmanuel, and Peter, and four grandchildren: Amanda, David, Christopher, and Samantha, and her sister, Hae-Sook Lee.

Funeral mass was held with many family and friends at St. Gregory's on August 22. She was laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.