July 12, 1941 - November 5, 2020

Kum Yon passed away on November 5th at 06:26 at Ascension St. John. She was 79 years old. A funeral service in her honor and memory will be held on Friday, November 13th at 11:00 AM at Stanleys Funeral Home, 3959 East 31st Street in Tulsa.

Kum Yon was born July 12, 1941, In Kimchon City, Kyongsangpuk-do, South Korea to Hong, Chong Silk (father) and Kim, Su Am (mother). Kimchon City was a town about the size of Sand Springs (where she later lived for a while) but in a very different world from Oklahoma- a valley surrounded by mountains. Kum Yon always remembered the incredibly pure air there and the flowers, Tiger Lilies, Baby's Breath, many others and the red Azaleas that covered the hillsides in the spring.

Her father was a baker and also owned a fruit orchard. He loved anything that grew and everything he grew was wonderful. Kum Yon's mother helped him as did Kum Yon. It resulted in her having a life-long love of plants.

Kum Yon didn't finish high school because she wanted to leave her small community and see what the outside world was like. She joined the South Korean military and served three years, and became a Sergeant working as a telephone operator. Her husband-to-be, Jerry Lee Jones, was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in South Korea. He was a Military Police Sergeant in the K9 unit. Through mutual friends, they met and married in the American Embassy.

Several years later, they made the necessary arrangements to move to the United States with their daughter, Angela, who was 19 months old. Just before Kum Yon was to arrive, Jerry Lee was transferred to Germany, but she came here anyway since he had relatives in Sand Springs. While living there, two older neighbors saw her taking such good care of Angela that they suggested she should consider taking care of seniors at the nearby nursing home. She took their advice and started working at Oakdale Nursing Home in Sand Springs. When the Nursing Director left to go to Southern Hills Nursing Home in Tulsa, she wanted Kum Yon to come with her, so she did.

Later a friend recommended Kum Yon as someone who would be an excellent employee for Saint Simeon's Episcopal Home (now Saint Simeon's Senior Community) and a call was made to her. Kum Yon didn't know Saint Simeon's at all but when she came to visit, the first thing she saw were the beautiful trees. She thought it was almost like a forest and she knew this was the place she wanted to be. Thus began a career of almost 40 years at Saint Simeon's as a Certified Nursing Assistant, ending with her retirement in 2019. Kum Yon was one of the most gentle and kind people one could ever know and was beloved by generations of Residents, their families, and her co-workers.

Kum Yon's reputation extends beyond Saint Simeon's. In 1998 she was selected as the Career Nurse of the Year for Tulsa, Creek, and Osage counties. She said that what motivated her all those years was that she had not been able to take care of her mother and father since they were in South Korea, but she could care for other people's parents how she hoped someone would care for hers.

Kum Yon's pure spirit showed in everything she did. She said that sometimes a Resident would tell her that she was really pretty, and she would tell them that their eyes were not so good, and they needed glasses. But they really did know what they saw. Kum Yon's name means "Golden lily" in one of the Chinese dialects and her parents could not have selected a better name for her.

Gardening was a passion for Kum Yon. Her garden at her home in North Gate that she shared with her daughter Angela, wrapped all around their house and she continued gardening until health issues prevented it, only going inside when it got too dark to be outside.

Sketching was a hobby that Kum Yon did throughout the years along with her love of books which fed her enjoyment of cartoons and taught her a lot about English and the American life. When Kum Yon took a partial retirement in 2018 and her health became more of an issue, she sketched and wrote things down on a daily basis on the advice of her doctor, Dr Rebecca Brett, as a way to help keep her mind active. This resulted in over 12 sketch books which Angela kept collecting each time Kum Yon would finish another sketchbook.

Kum Yon is predeceased by her parents and siblings, her husband, Jerry Lee, and her son, Robert. She is survived by her daughter Angela, and her fur grandbaby -- a pit-bull mix named Roman, whom she adored.

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