MARIETTA: Jung Ja Lee, 59, kept store going

In 1990, an armed robber burst into the Marietta convenience store Jung Ja Lee owned with her husband, Jae Chung Lee.

A bullet hit Mr. Lee in the chest and left him paralyzed. Mrs. Lee, a native of South Korea, was left to look after the Atlanta Road Grocery and her husband until his death in 1996. She kept running the store for years after that.

“She worked 12-plus-hour days six days a week, and on the seventh day, she didn’t rest. She took care of her home,” said her son, Justin Lee of Duluth.

Before the shooting, Mrs. Lee’s fortitude was already the stuff of family lore. When she took her husband to visit her family in South Korea, she lifted him on her back and carried him across a stream so his suit wouldn’t be dirty.

When he fell on hard times, she pawned her engagement ring so he could start his business again.

Mrs. Lee, 59, of Marietta died of a brain aneurysm Monday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital. The funeral is 11 a.m. today at Carmichael Funeral Home.

Before she moved to the United States, Mrs. Lee had been an artist whose portrait drawings were as detailed as photographs. Later, between her work and family obligations, she had little time for hobbies. Being a farmer’s daughter, though, she still loved to garden and feel the soil in her fingers.

She was behind the counter of her store on Saturday before she fell ill Sunday.

“She tried to live her life the best way she could, even with all the adversities she had to face,” her son said. “She’s always been my inspiration, my hero.”

Additional survivors include a daughter, Lexi Lee of Marietta; another son, In Lee of Atlanta; four brothers; three sisters; and two grandchildren.