Bill Text: VA HJR722 | 2021 | 1st Special Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Celebrating the life of Ae Ja Kang.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-02-11 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ722ER) [HJR722 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2021-HJR722-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Ae Ja Kang, a successful business owner and highly admired community leader in Fairfax County, died on September 12, 2020; and
WHEREAS, Ae Ja Kang was born on Jeju Island in 1937, when what is now the Republic of Korea was under colonial occupation by Japan, and she later witnessed the invasion of her country by communist forces from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1950; and
WHEREAS, during the communist occupation of Seoul, Ae Ja Kang endured severe hardships and dropped out of school to care for her younger sisters; while later living in a refugee camp, she supported her family by selling food and other items given to her by American soldiers; and
WHEREAS, Ae Ja Kang used the entrepreneurial skills she cultivated in her youth to open a small business that bought and sold clothes and other necessities and subsequently opened a record store; and
WHEREAS, seeking better opportunities for their growing family, Ae Ja Kang and her husband, Seung Hee Kang, immigrated to the United States in 1978; they originally lived in Maryland, then relocated to Virginia and opened a grocery store in Centreville; and
WHEREAS, over the years, Ae Ja Kang supported new generations of Korean immigrants to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, helping them to find employment, build connections, and become successful members of their communities; and
WHEREAS, a devout Catholic, Ae Ja Kang enjoyed fellowship and worship with the congregation of Saint Paul Chung Catholic Church in Chantilly; and
WHEREAS, Ae Ja Kang was a generous philanthropist, contributing as a member of the Commandant's Circle of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, which supports the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico; and
WHEREAS, Ae Ja Kang passed her entrepreneurial spirit on to her children; her daughter, Hyosun, runs a popular food blog using traditional Korean recipes and her youngest son, Ki Ho, started an aerospace company in Reston after retiring from the United States Air Force; and
WHEREAS, Ae Ja Kang will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by her four children and their families and by numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Ae Ja Kang; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Ae Ja Kang as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for her memory.
