Sung Sil Jin's Obituary
Sung Sil "Jackie" Jin, 63, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died January 26, 2024, with her family by her side, in her Wilhelmina home.
Funeral service will be at the Korean Catholic Church, 511 Main Street, Honolulu, HI 96818, on February 07,2024, Wednesday at 11:00AM.
Jackie was born in Jeongeup, a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea, very close to the city of Seoul. Her father was a wig factory owner, and her mother raised their 4 children.
Jackie was their 3rd child. Very vibrant and resilient, Jackie would come home from school every day to cook, clean and care for her bed-ridden mother who suffered a stroke. After graduating from high school in Seoul, Jackie joined Esquire Company, specializing in the production and retail of leather goods and footwear through a chain of retail outlets throughout South Korea.
In 1985, Jackie met Paul Jin through a blind date and the two fell in love. Within the same year, on October 26, they got married. Jackie emigrated to the United States in 1987 and started a life in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1988, her daughter Jasmine was born. And in 1990, her son John was born.
Jackie had an acute eye for business and with her husband, started running liquor and convenience stores: first in Chinatown, then in the McCully-Moiliili area, before arriving in the Kapahulu area with a store they own to this day. She invested in real estate and also ventured into the food business, running two sushi stores in Makiki and Kaka'ako.
In 2016, Jackie was diagnosed with lung cancer as a non-smoker. She quit work at that time to focus on treatment and spending time with family. It was an 8-year long battle with surgeries, different chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments, clinical trials in Texas, radiation...through it all, Jackie was the bravest, most compassionate soul who had a vitality for life and was the light and laughter of all those she knew.
Had she beat her cancer, one of her truest wishes was to volunteer full-time to cook and distribute food to the homeless. She was an amazing cook, nimble with her hands, generous to a fault, chatty and lively. She loved the color yellow, bopped to upbeat EDM, and had endless amounts of love for her family, friends and for life.
Jackie is survived by her husband, Paul Jin; brothers, Kyung Rae and Young Rae Cho; sister Sung Mi Cho; and her two children, Jasmine and John Jin.
She was preceded in death by her parents Cho In Sik and Byeong Hee Lee.
What’s your fondest memory of Sung Sil?
What’s a lesson you learned from Sung Sil?
Share a story where Sung Sil's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Sung Sil you’ll never forget.
How did Sung Sil make you smile?