Il Soon Har's Obituary
Il Soon Har of San Rafael, California passed away March 8, 2026. She was 81.
She was born March 13, 1945 in Gyeonggi-do, a once rural province of Seoul, South Korea. She was the eldest of seven children born to Gwang Ge Woo and Soon Rye Lee. At age 31, she left Korea to immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband Boo Yong Har and two small children, Janie and Henry.
In the U.S., she and her husband worked tirelessly to provide a brighter future for their family. Il Soon used an English-Korean dictionary to fill out a loan application for their first store, a deli. Eventually, the couple purchased Winton’s News & Liquors in downtown San Rafael, which they would own for 25 years.
Those early years were challenging. Il Soon made soups and salads for the deli late into the night after a long day working at both stores. But the children graduated from college and the family flourished.
Il Soon loved warm drinks, fresh fruit and colorful flowers. She delighted in collecting plant clippings from her travels. She loved her multiple iPads and Korean dramas.
Her endearment of choice was the Korean word for puppy, which is gangaji. Sometimes, she would differentiate between “big puppy” and “little puppy.” Her most favorite little puppy was her granddaughter, Hayden, whom she thought marvelous in every way.
She was preceded in death by her husband.
She is survived by her daughter Janie Har of San Rafael and son Henry Har (Jennifer) of Mill Valley; granddaughter Hayden; sisters Young Soon Lee (Gye Su Lee) and Young Mi Woo of South Korea; brothers Sang Chun Woo (Ju Ok Yu), Sang Hui Woo (Cheong Hwa Bark), Sang Seop Woo (Nap Ye Jeong), and Sang Hyeok Woo (Seok Jin Kim), all of South Korea; in-laws in California; many nieces and nephews and their children.
Our mother taught us to try our best, save for a rainy day and to never ever let anything go to waste. We miss our shy but fierce matriarch with her high standards and playful sense of humor.
We love you forever, mom, and we thank you for everything.
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