Dr. Kathleen Marie Joyce Kim

Dr. Kathleen Marie Joyce Kim was born on March 19, 1951, the sixth of twelve children born to William George and Bertha Duey Joyce. While both of her parents were blind from a very early age, they had no difficulty in providing each of their children the core values of faith, family, education and a life long desire to strive always to make the world a better place for the next generation. While some might consider her parents' blindness a handicap, to Kathy and her siblings it was a gift from God that kept the children close together, kept them accountable and out of trouble, and taught them compassion and hope for people with any handicap or difficulty. The family was poor in the sense of they did not have much and often Kathy and her siblings wore hand me downs; however, there was always joy in what they had that could not be measured monetarily. The house was abundant with love for each other and anyone they came in contact with. No one would come in contact with Kathy's mother without receiving a hearty loving hug, a good cheering word, and prayers. Like her mother, Kathy had a sincere love and compassion for others—everyone who crossed her path received that same hearty loving hug and prayers for any of their needs. Her son-in-law, Alan whom Kathy loves very much, can certainly attest to this! Kathy and her eleven brothers and sisters lived on the east side of Detroit until the family moved to Centerline, Michigan in the fall of 1969. Kathy attended Guyton Elementary School through fifth grade and then attended St. Ambrose Catholic School through the twelfth grade where she graduated June 1968 with high honors and as a member of the National Honor Society. Kathy was always a voracious reader from a very young age reading everything and anything she could get her hands on. Kathy's interests leaned towards science fields and she entered Wayne State University as a freshman majoring in Pre-Med. Because of her intellect and natural curiosity to understand everything she always excelled at everything she did. Ultimately, she switched majors to Physics having learned a love for this discipline from her mentor and later husband, Yeong Wook Kim. Learning came naturally to Kathy. She innately understood anything she was reading or learning. Her natural superior intelligence and understanding was one of her most apparent attributes. She assisted her siblings in their education even to the point of convincing uninterested siblings to take multiple science courses in college due to her love of them. Her enthusiasm caused them to struggle through several semesters of Physics; to this day, they ponder why they took them. After graduating from Wayne State in June 1973 with a B.A. in Physics, Kathy attended the University of Michigan earning her Masters in Physics in 1975. She then came back to the field of Medicine. Kathy attended Wayne State University Medical School and graduated as a physician in 1982. Kathy married Yeong Kim in 1978, and they remained married until he passed away in September of 2014.. Yeong had two children from his previous marriage, whom Kathy treated as her own children. With Yeong, she raised daughter Ann and son Ron, as well as a third daughter, Melissa, who was born in 1987. Kathy was always supportive of all of the activities that captured the interest of her children--Ron and his love of computers/comic books/football, Ann and her high school athletics in -swimming and track, Melissa's interests in art, writing and sports. With Yeong, she was were able to see all three of her children graduate from the University of Michigan. Kathy continued on in dedication and support in her role as a grandmother to Leah and Jeremy children of Ann and her husband, Alan and Tom, Alice and Spencer children of Ron and his wife, Pam. She was always the grandma with the best Nerf guns and water fights and was the inspiration for many a Lego or creative project. Kathy was a resident with the Department of Anesthesiology at Sinai Hospital in Detroit from 1982 to July 1984, after which she became an instructor and resident at the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University, Section of Emergency Medicine until February 1985. Thereafter, she completed her residency program at Sinai Hospital in February 1986. Kathy then became a staff anesthesiologist at Henry Ford Hospital June 1986 – January 1987, Grace Hospital June 1987 – Aug 1990, Oakwood Hospital- Heritage Sept 1990 – Nov 2002 and lastly at Kern Surgical Hospital. Kathy continued to practice and help others in this field for the next thirty-two years. She also authored several medical articles with others in her profession, winning awards for her research. For Kathy, being a physician was never about simply providing competent and professional medical care; she always maintained that people, especially those who were ill or in the hospital, needed to respected, valued, shown compassion, and spoken to. Kathy was adamant that each patient be treated as if they were all that mattered to her—their needs whether they were medical or personal were important and she always found time for a message, prayer, hug, or a word of encouragement. Kathy never lost hope for anyone no matter how bad the facts appeared as she valued life, and her job was to support life in all she did. Each person placed in her care was an individual with needs, dreams, wants, desires, hopes, and problems. God chose her to support, care, and show who He was in the flesh to anyone she encountered. She saw each patient's heart and was compassionate in providing humanity in addition to medical care. Kathy's mother had a stroke in about 2000. At that time, Kathy became not only her medical advocate but also her primary caregiver, taking the responsibility to assemble the best medical team to assist her mother in her recovery. Kathy remained in the position of hub, organizing her mother's complete care program including being a resource for her siblings and coordinating all doctors, tests, etc. At this time, Kathy also inquired of her sister Carol who was practicing homeopathy as to what help homeopathic remedies could be. Not surprisingly, Kathy became interested in this field and quizzed Carol, taking on the task of learning all she could about homeopathy and various homeopathic remedies. This interest continued throughout her later years and she began incorporating homeopathic remedies into her care of family, friends, and pets as she believed too often pharmaceuticals often did more harm than good. Her mother's illness became a three-year journey as her mother had a second and third stroke that totally debilitated her. Kathy then assumed an even greater role, ensuring that her blind mother had 24/7 care by her and several of her siblings. Initially her mother was paralyzed, but was able to communicate through nods, raising eyebrows, and squeezing the thumb area of the hand. Her mother was unable to move and get around, but continued to be intellectually sharp. Many struggles and issues arose during this time and many trips to hospitals, doctors, and nursing homes were endured, the family looking to Kathy for guidance and direction; Kathy always took on the challenge and saw it through. Kathy's mother went on to the Lord on May 13, 2003. Shortly afterwards, Kathy became a Volunteer Chaplain through the Health Care Christian Fellowship comforting and assisting others up until the time of her own illness. At this same time, Kathy's husband, Yeong, began facing some health challenges and Kathy started managing his health care as well. This journey with the love of her life also was challenging and involved many ups, downs, doctor's visits, and 24/7 care. Kathy took on this challenge primarily on her own, with the help of her children, Ann, Ron and Melissa. Kathy felt it was a privilege to be able to show love, care, and compassion while meeting Yeong's medical needs and did so tirelessly. Kathy did not complain but went about doing what she did best, all the while telling Yeong about God and about her Savior Jesus. Again Kathy felt that God had placed her in this position to love her husband and show him the unconditional love of Jesus. Kathy cared for Yeong until his passing on September 20th, 2014. Everyone agrees that she extended his life by many years and kept the quality of his life extremely high. Kathy spent much quality time with Yeong, reading, watching movies, and taking him to hear talks at Wayne State University for many years after his retirement Kathy was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer just days before her husband's passing. Kathy, as well as her family and friends, were devastated by this tragic news, Nonetheless, Kathy faced her illness with bravery and grace as she spent the last four weeks of her life fighting an extremely tough battle. Kathy was a wonderful friend to many in the community, a devoted wife to her late husband, as well as a loving mother to her three children, and devoted grandmother to her five grandchildren. She will be greatly missed and dearly remembered. Kathy is survived by her family members including daughter Melissa, daughter Ann, her husband Alan, their children Jeremy and Leah, son Ron, his wife Pam, and their children Thomas, Alice and Spencer. Kathy is also survived by 11 brothers and sisters --Pat, Barb, Marge, Bill, Mike, Dan, Sally, Jan, Jim, Carol, and Bob--as well as many in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins. Visitation Sunday 2-6 pm with a prayer service at 5:30 pm and Monday 5-8 pm with a 7 pm scripture service at the Wm. Sullivan & Son Funeral Home, 705 W. 11 Mile Rd. 4 blks E. of Woodward, Royal Oak. Funeral Tuesday, in-state 5 pm until time of funeral Mass 5:30 pm at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal Oak. Interment Wednesday 10 a.m. at St. Clement Cemetery, Centerline. Memorial contributions to the Kathy and Yeong Kim Scholarship Fund, C/O Wayne State University Physics Department Attn: Professor Ratna Naik, 666 W. Hancock, Detroit 48201 are appreciated. Share your memories at www.sullivanfuneraldirectors.com.

Dr. Kathleen Marie Joyce Kim

March 19, 1951 - October 14, 2014