Young Sun Hahn (Lee) passed quietly and peacefully on October 21, 2022, after a six year bout with Parkinson’s Disease. She was surrounded by her loving family she worked so tirelessly and selflessly to elevate. She is survived by her husband Chan, son Irving (Jennifer), son Thomas (Cathy), and her grandchildren, Christopher, Michael (Michaela), Jonathan, Ally, Andrew, and her great granddaughter Daisy Young. She was preceded in death by three sisters and a brother and is survived by her younger sister.
Young was born in Seoul, Korea on August 13, 1939. She survived the challenges of growing up in an underdeveloped, war-torn country, losing both her own parents before she was 22 years old. Young was one of the first female graduates of the prestigious Yonsei University in Seoul and her classmates always spoke of her academic prowess. At the university she met her future husband, Chan Hahn. After working at the Korea Development Bank post-graduation, she immigrated to the United States in 1966 to join Chan in Columbus, Ohio as he pursued his doctorate at The Ohio State University. They were married October 8, 1966 in Columbus. They moved to Bowling Green in 1970 when Chan became a professor at BGSU.
Young’s life was one of virtue and service to others. As a mother she spent countless hours instilling durable life lessons about the importance of family, being disciplined and consistent, thrift, and relentlessly pursuing education in her children. She had amazing compassion for how difficult life could be in a small town for her children because of their immigrant heritage.
She enabled her husband’s career as he grew the Supply Chain program at the university over 30 years. This included mentoring and serving as godmother to over a hundred students from Korea during that time. Of those students, three serve as Presidents of major universities in Korea today. She spent countless hours helping her husband recruit young faculty to join the university and hosted legendary cocktail parties for the faculty where she prepared all the food herself. Young was the driving force in deciding that Bowling Green and BGSU were going to be her family’s home for life.
Those who knew Young saw that she was not driven to best others by awards, accolades, career achievements, or material possessions. She believed that she led a blessed life of good fortune. The remarkableness of her life is how she did simple things exceptionally well every day. She will be greatly missed.
The family will have a private ceremony in her honor. Memorials can be made to the Bowling Green State University Foundation earmarked to the Department of Management’s Young Hahn Memorial Scholarship.
