Kuwol San Mcbride

Kuwol San McBride , 78 years old passed away peacefully in her home on Friday, December 29th, 2023.

Kuwol, or known to many as “San,” which means mountain in Korean, was born on May 10, 1945. She was named after Mount Kuwol of Korea, the mountain where she was born. She was born to father Yong Sang Lee, and mother Ok Nyeo Lee. Kuwol San was the youngest of 5 children. She was a lifelong gardener who loved planting flowers, shrubs, and fruit trees of all seasons. She loved traveling, dining out, dressing well, cooking, eating, and watching Korean drama and Korean variety shows that would play her favorite Korean Trot songs. Above all, she loved her family and was a part of all aspects of her children and grandchildren’s lives.

At the age of 28, on June 13, 1973, she left her homeland South Korea, and immigrated to the United States with her children to join their father who had come to the U.S. 3 years prior to prepare for his family to come. She left behind her family and friends and everything she knew, to pursue a better life for her children. She always put her children first and made many sacrifices to ensure they would have a good life filled with opportunities she did not have, and that they would never face hunger, cold or the kind of hardship she had to go through.

Despite difficulties and challenges of living in a new country, without her family and friends, or language, she learned to speak the new language and fully assimilated to her life in the U.S. and was proud to be a Korean American. She lived in Brooklyn, New York when first coming to the U.S. then she moved with her children and their father to Los Angeles California to what was the beginning of early Korea town in 1974, until finally settling down in Long Beach California in 1975, where she lived and passed after 48 years as a Long Beach resident. In Long Beach during mid to late 1970’s, she owned with the children’s father, Alby’s restaurant, a family run business, on 4th street and Cherry Avenue, now known as Lola’s Mexican Cuisine. Later in the early 1980’s, they owned and ran Gary’s restaurant in the city of Wilmington.

She always lived life to its fullest, and she enjoyed all her favorite things with great gusto. To those who knew her, she was known for her feisty and bright energy and had an unforgettable bold confidence about her, while carrying herself with impeccable class. She also had a great sense of humor and was well known for her friendly bantering.

She is survived by her children Sunmi Wilson and James Choi; grandchildren, Melody Savell, and Lorenzo Choi, and her 2 older sisters who reside in South Korea, and all their children and grandchildren.

She is forever loved and remembered fondly and will always be greatly missed.