Yong Suk McDowell

Yong Suk McDowell affectionately known by her friends as “Sue”, passed away peacefully at home on 8th March 2023, in Fayetteville, North Carolina at the age of 84.

Yong Suk is survived by her children, Helena McDowell, Marsha McDowell; her grandchildren, Niana Adoboli and husband, John Adoboli, Zanone Deno Tate; her great-grandchildren, Sean Tate, Amiyah Tate, Alyssa Tate; her brothers, Sin Kil Yu and wife, Kyu Rae Yu, Sin Ung Yu and wife, Lisa Mask Yu; stepbrother, Sin Tak Yu and a host of nieces and nephews.  She is preceded in death by her husband, Bruce McDowell; her father, Jum Dong Yu; her mothers, So Im Park, Sun Ok Yu; her brothers, Sin Ok Yu and Sin Bok Yu.

Yong Suk was born on 20th January 1939, in South Korea to Jum Dong Yu and So Im Park.  She was the oldest of five children and grew up a small-town girl from the Korean countryside.  While in Korea, she met the love of her life in 1957 and married Bruce McDowell, an American soldier.  Over the course of the next 16 years and travels to and from the United States and Korea, the couple welcomed two daughters and Yong Suk McDowell filled their lives with love and warmth.  Her children, grandchildren, family and friends remember her as a strong, loving, compassionate, sweet spirit, a mother to all, who encouraged them to be good people and to live their best, enlightened lives.

Yong Suk was a devoted homemaker, Mother, Wife, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Sister, and Aunt.  In her personal life she was a woman of many talents, a master in the kitchen, a MacGyver of the home, she loved to travel and was a woman of strong faith and commitment to the Buddhist philosophy, Soka Gakkai International USA rooted in Nichiren Buddhism.  She was a pioneer member and leader in the local organization and a pillar in the Asian community here in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Her funeral is scheduled for Saturday, 18th March 2023, 2:00pm EST at Rogers & Breece Funeral Home.  All are welcome to attend and celebrate Yong Suk McDowell’s life.

The family would also like to thank a dear family friend, Queenie Robinson, for her loving care and support.

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