Junghi Suh Kim, Korean Renaissance woman, longtime resident of Lexington, Mass., and founding member of the Korea Society of New England and the First Korean Beacon Church, dies at 90.

Junghi Suh Kim, a devoted mother and wife and longtime resident of Lexington, Mass., died of natural causes on Feb. 25.

A renaissance woman, she spoke several languages, and was an expert gardener, painter, chef and outdoorswoman. She shared her gifts with friends and family.

She was born on Oct. 27, 1932, in Seoul, Korea, the eldest daughter to Dr. Doo Soo Suh, a Korean scholar, and Joon Joo Lee.

She arrived in the United States after the Korean War, first living in Seattle, Wash., before heading to Carroll College in Helena, Mont., to study before transferring to University of Washington to complete her bachelor's degree.

She then moved to Boston to pursue a graduate degree in library science at Simmons College.  While there, she worked as a part-time library assistant at the Harvard-Yenching Library, where she would meet her future husband, the late Sungha Kim.

They married in 1958 at the Boston University chapel, and together became founding members of the Korea Society of New England and the First Korean Beacon Church in Cambridge, Mass.  They first lived on Newbury Street in Boston where in 1961, they welcomed their first son, Arnold Kim.  After two years in the Back Bay, they moved to Brookline where their second son, Roland Kim was born. In 1965, they moved to their home in Lexington, Mass.

After her husband died in 1989, she continued to live in their home, and when she died, she had lived in Lexington for 58 years.

An avid gardener and naturalist, Junghi was an active member of the Lexington Field & Garden association and supported causes important to her, including the Nature Conservancy, WGBH Public television and the Cary Memorial Library in Lexington.

She led an active life, cherishing ocean swimming in Falmouth and drop line flounder fishing in Orleans, Cape Cod. She played basketball with her sons, and taught them downhill skiing at Gunstock Mountain in Laconia, N.H.  She loved encouraging her grandsons, William and Emmett, in their athletic pursuits, from Ultimate Frisbee to basketball to rock climbing.  She was an evangelist of the Boston sports teams, and when she watched championship games with her family, the Boston teams usually won.

She was a welcoming host for visiting Korean scholars, the high school friends of her sons, and wayward college students in search of quality home cooking. Her kimchi and nengmyun were legendary, and her cast iron skillet created bulgogi of the Gods.

Always carrying a glorious smile, she adored the style of Audrey Hepburn and the unencumbered neo-classical French fashion movement. As a young woman, before the Korean War, she entertained starting a women's clothing line.  An accomplished artist, her broad edge calligraphy and oil and pastel paintings won admiration for its fullness of simplicity.

With keen observational skills, Junghi possessed a biting sense of humor, and did not suffer fools, but somehow never made anyone truly feel embarrassed.

She was fluent in Korean, English, Japanese and Mandarin, and though one never to brag, she admired excellence but also temperance.  She often quoted her grandfather saying that "no matter how much education you have, you have to be a good person first."

And she often said, "I hate War. People don't know what war is."

She is survived by her sons Arnold Y. Kim of New York City, and Roland Y. Kim and wife, Karen of Andover, Mass., and her grandsons William J. Kim and Emmett J. Kim.  She was the sister of Nam Pyo Suh, and the late Spring Benton, Grace Chae, and Kwang Pyo Suh, along with many beloved nieces and nephews and their children.

Arrangements being made at the Douglas Funeral Home in Lexington, Mass.  Visitation on Sunday, Mar. 5 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.  There will be a service on Monday, March 6 at 11 a.m. at the Story Chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery with burial immediately following.

To Livestream the service at Mount Auburn on Monday at 10:45 am, please connect to the following link:

https://youtube.com/live/8uRLuzMLbVg?feature=share

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Alzheimer's Association, the Nature Conservancy, WGBH.org or the Sungha Kim Memorial Fund at Harvard University (#415-565348, https://alumni.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/page/files/Check_Donation_Form.pdf ).